Study Design. This is a systematic literature review and meta-analysis. Objective. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein (RhBMP) and autologous iliac crest bone graft (ICBG) in lumbar fusion. Summary of Background Data. RhBMP has been emphasized in lumbar fusion due to high fusion success rate. However, ICBG remains the criterion standard graft approach for lumbar fusion. The safety and effectiveness of rhBMP are controversial. Methods. Prospective randomized controlled trials were searched from PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trails by using Medical Subject Headings terms “bone morphogenetic protein," “bone transplantation," and “spinal fusion." Two independent investigators screened eligible studies, assessed the bias of original articles, extracted data including fusion success, Oswestry disability index improvement, improved short form 36 questionnaire scores, adverse events and re-operation, and a subgroup analysis. The GRADE approach was used to grade quality of evidence. Results. Twenty randomized controlled trials (2185 patients) met the inclusion criteria. There were higher fusion success rate (odds ratio [OR] 3.79, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.88–7.63, P = 0.0002), better improvement of Oswestry Disability Index (mean difference 1.54, 95% CI 0.18–2.89, P = 0.03), and lower re-operation rate (OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.43–0.80, P = 0.0007) in rhBMP group. Heterogeneity was obvious in fusion success rate (I 2  = 58%); hence, a subgroup analysis, based on protein type (rhBMP-2 or rhBMP-7), was performed, which suggested that only rhBMP-2 was better than ICBG for lumbar fusion. There was no difference in the incidence of adverse events between rhBMP and ICBG (OR 0.91, 95% CI 0.70–1.18, P = 0.47). Conclusion. In lumbar fusion, rhBMP-2 exhibited a higher fusion success rate and reduced the risk of re-operation. No difference in complication rate is between rhBMP (rhBMP-2 and rhBMP-7) and ICBG. We suggest rhBMP especially rhBMP-2 as an effective substitute for ICBG for lumbar fusion. Level of Evidence: 1

Study Design. This study is a systematic literature review and meta-analysis. Objective. To evaluate the efficacy of tubular microdiscectomy (TMD) compared with conventional microdiscectomy (CMD) for lumbar disc herniation (LDH). Summary of Background Data. TMD has developed rapidly due to reduced tissue trauma by minimization of the required access to spine and disc herniation; however, CMD remains the standard of care for this patient group. To date, it remains debatable whether TMD is superior to CMD for LDH. Methods. We performed a comprehensive database search of PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trails for prospective randomized controlled trials (RCTs), through using Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms “microdiscectomy,” “tubular microdiscectomy,” “minimally invasive surgery,” and “spinal disease.” The retrieved results were last updated on March 15, 2018. Two independent investigators selected qualified studies, extracted indispensable data, assessed risk of bias of original papers. The Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach was used to grade quality of evidence. If I 2 >50, the heterogeneity is considerable. Results. Four RCT studies (total n = 605), involving 610 individuals with a follow-up period of no less than 12 months, were selected for further review. We assessed these studies as low overall risk of bias. There was low-quality evidence that TMD was superior to CMD considering postoperative Oswestry Disability Index scores (SMD, –3.43, 95% CI, –4.64 to –2.21, P < 0.00001). Compared with CMD, the TMD group exhibited significantly worse Short Form-36 physical function scores (SMD, –4.83, 95% CI, –8.94 to –0.72, P = 0.02). There were no significant differences in the visual analogue scale (P = 0.30), operative time (P = 0.68), dural tear (P = 0.52), and reoperation (P = 0.98). Conclusion. The benefits 1 year after TMD were similar to that of CMD. There was no significant difference in the incidence of reoperation and dural tear. Level of Evidence: 1

ObjectiveArteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) in the craniocervical junction (CCJ) region are a rare occurrence with special clinical manifestations. This study retrospectively reviewed patients with CCJ AVFs treated at our neurosurgical center, aiming to enhance the understanding of CCJ AVFs.MethodsA total of 113 patients with CCJ AVFs treated at our neurosurgical center between January 2013 and December 2020 were enrolled. They were grouped as patients with CCJ AVFs with spinal arterial feeders (n = 20) and patients with CCJ AVF without spinal arterial feeders (n = 93). Clinical presentation, angiographic characteristics, intraoperative findings, and treatment outcomes were analyzed.ResultsThe patients’ median age was 55 years (IQR 47.5–62 years). The proportion of males in the group without spinal arterial feeders was significantly higher (p = 0.001). Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) was the most common clinical presentation, especially in the group with spinal arterial feeders (p &lt; 0.001). There were significant differences in AVF type, fistula location, and direction of the venous drainage between the two groups (p &lt; 0.001). Intervention embolization combined with microsurgery was more common in treating AVFs with spinal arterial feeders (p = 0.006). Spinal arterial feeders did not affect the outcome (p = 0.275).ConclusionsSAH was the most common presentation of CCJ AVFs in this study. Microsurgery and interventional embolization were optional treatment strategies. The angioarchitecture of CCJ AVFs was essential for selecting treatment strategies.

This is a retrospective study.The aim of this study was to illustrate the survival outcomes of patients with classic ependymoma (CE) and identify potential prognostic factors.CE is the most common category of spinal ependymomas, but few published studies have discussed predictors of the survival outcome.A Boolean search of the PubMed, Embase, and OVID databases was conducted by 2 investigators independently. The objects were intramedullary grade II ependymoma according to 2007 WHO classification. Univariate Kaplan–Meier analysis and Log-Rank tests were performed to identify variables associated with progression-free survival (PFS) or overall survival (OS). Multivariate Cox regression was performed to assess hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS version 23.0 (IBM Corp.) with statistical significance defined as P < .05.A total of 35 studies were identified, including 169 cases of CE. The mean follow-up time across cases was 64.2 ± 51.5 months. Univariate analysis showed that patients who had undergone total resection (TR) had better PFS and OS than those with subtotal resection (STR) and biopsy (P = .002, P = .004, respectively). Within either univariate or multivariate analysis (P = .000, P = .07, respectively), histological type was an independent prognostic factor for PFS of CE [papillary type: HR 0.002, 95% CI (0.000–0.073), P = .001, tanycytic type: HR 0.010, 95% CI (0.000–0.218), P = .003].It was the first integrative analysis of CE to elucidate the correlation between kinds of factors and prognostic outcomes. Definite histological type and safely TR were foundation of CE's management.Level of Evidence: 4

OBJECTIVE Current knowledge about venous hypertensive myelopathy (VHM) is incomplete. This study was performed with the aim of clarifying the clinical features and outcomes of craniocervical VHM. METHODS This retrospective, single-center cohort study included 65 patients with craniocervical junction arteriovenous fistulas resulting in VHM treated in Xuanwu Hospital from January 1, 2002, to December 30, 2020. All patients underwent microsurgery or endovascular treatment. The primary outcome was neurological function assessment using the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) scale, modified Aminoff-Logue Scale (mALS), and Venous Hypertensive Myelopathy Scale (VHMS). The secondary outcomes were recurrences and postoperative adverse events. Pearson linear regression and receiver operating characteristic curves were used to evaluate the relationships among the three scales. Kaplan-Meier and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to predict outcomes. RESULTS The mean patient age was 57.4 ± 11.4 years, and 88% of patients were male. The 1-year follow-up rate was 83.1%, and the 5-year follow-up rate was 50.8%. The VHMS was correlated with the JOA (R2 = 0.6722) and mALS (R2 = 0.7399) and increased the assessment accuracy by approximately 20% when compared with the other two scales. Overall, 25.9% of patients experienced delayed neurological decline beyond the 1-year follow-up. Further logistic regression suggested that age > 65 years was an independent predictor (OR 7.831, 95% CI 1.090–56.266; p = 0.041). Embolic recanalization and new bilateral symmetry feeders were the major reasons for recurrence. Recurrence increased the risk of adverse events after the second surgery (OR 20.455, 95% CI 1.170–357.320; p = 0.039). CONCLUSIONS CCJ AVFs resulting in VHM are a rare but deadly complication, and providers should be cautious of age-related delayed neurological decline and strive for a one-time anatomical cure.

Background and purpose A major challenge in spinal dural arteriovenous fistula (SDAVF) is timely diagnosis, but no specific predictive biomarkers are known. Methods In the discovery cohort (case, n = 8 vs. control, n = 8), we used cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and paired plasma samples to identify differentially expressed proteins by label-free quantitative proteomics. Further bioinformatics enrichment analyses were performed to screen target proteins. Finally, it was validated by ELISA in two of the new cohorts (case, n = 17 vs. control, n = 9), and univariate analysis, simple linear regression, and receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were performed to evaluate the diagnostic potential. Results In the discovery cohort, the most overexpressed proteins were APOB and C4BPA in CSF samples of patients. The GO/KEGG enrichment analysis indicated that the upregulated proteins were mainly involved in the acute inflammatory response and complement activation. Hub-gene analysis revealed that APP might be the key protein in the molecular interaction network. In the validation cohort, C4BPA and C1QA were significantly overexpressed in the CSF of patients, averaging 3046.9 ng/ml and 2167.2 ng/ml, respectively. Simple linear regression demonstrated that levels of C1QA and C4 were positively correlated with total protein in CSF (R2 = 0.8021, p = 0.0005; R2 = 0.7447, p = 0.0013). The areas under the ROC curves of C4BPA and C1QA were 0.86 and 1.00, respectively. Conclusions This study was the first to identify C4BPA and C1QA as potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of SDAVF and revealed that complement pathway activation might be one of the molecular mechanisms for venous hypertension myelopathy.

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In software-defined network (SDN) architecture, the network decisions are all located on a logically centralized controller. Based on installing rules into switches of the data plane, the controller directly initiates and schedules a network update and which will cause a delay in the completion time of a network update. The situation is aggravated in wide area networks (WANs) further due to the switches deployed in a wide geographical area bring long propagation delay. On account of adopting the in-band transmission style to deliver control messages instead of dedicated control channels is economics in WANs, the retransmission of control messages causing by congestion of the data channels is another unbearable delay source. This paper describes a new control information batch delivery mechanism (CIBDM) of network updates to relieve the delay and enhance the reliability of control message transmission in SD-WANs. The characteristics of the novel scheme include the following: (1) every control information message may contain multiple update information of different forwarding devices, and each update information consists of a set of update instructions with dependencies; (2) by using a similar mechanism of onion routing, in the delivering process of control messages, it attains the security for each control rule of the specified devices; (3) with delegating the update consistency coordination into the data plane, it improves network update on the completion time. A comprehensive evaluation runs on 10 network topologies selected from all over the world. Experimental results show that CIBDM achieves rapid network updates with reliable message transmission.