• Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.405-410
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• 2020

Purpose: Pedicle screw insertion has been traditionally used as a surgical treatment for degenerative lumbar spine disease. As an alternative, the cortical-bone trajectory screw allows less invasive posterior lumbar fixation and excellent mechanical stability, as reported in several biomechanical studies. This study evaluated the clinical and radiological results of a case of early failure of cortical-bone screw fixation in posterior fixation and union after posterior decompression. Materials and Methods: This study examined 311 patients who underwent surgical treatment from 2013 to 2018 using cortical orbital screws as an alternative to traditional pedicle screw fixation for degenerative spinal stenosis and anterior spine dislocation of the lumbar spine. Early fixation failure after surgery was defined as fixation failure, such as loosening, pull-out, and breakage of the screw on computed tomography (CT) and radiographs at a follow-up of six months. Results: Early fixation failure occurred in 46 out of 311 cases (14.8%), screw loosening in 46 cases (14.8%), pull-out in 12 cases (3.9%), and breakage in four cases (1.3%). An analysis of the site where the fixation failure occurred revealed the following, L1 in seven cases (15.2%), L2 in three cases (6.5%), L3 in four cases (8.7%), L4 in four cases (8.7%), L5 in four cases (8.7%), and S1 in 24 cases (52.2%). Among the distal cortical bone screws, fixation failures such as loosening, pull-out, and breakage occurred mainly in the S1 screws. Conclusion: Cortical-bone trajectory screw fixation may be an alternative with comparable clinical outcomes or fewer complications compared to conventional pedicle screw fixation. On the other hand, in case with osteoporosis and no anterior support structure particularly at L5-S1 fusion sites were observed to have result of premature fixation failures such as relaxation, pull-out, and breakage.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.166-172
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• 2011

Objective : The intralaminar screw (ILS) fixation technique offers an alternative to pedicle screw (PS) and lateral mass screw (LMS) fixation in the C7 spine. Although cadaveric studies have described the anatomy of the pedicles, laminae, and lateral masses at C7, 3-dimensional computed tomography (CT) imaging is the modality of choice for pre-surgical planning. In this study, the goal was to determine the anatomical parameter and optimal screw trajectory for ILS placement at C7, and to compare this information to PS and LMS placement in the C7 spine as determined by CT evaluation. Methods : A total of 120 patients (60 men and 60 women) with an average age of $51.7{\pm}13.6$ years were selected by retrospective review of a trauma registry database over a 2-year period. Patients were included in the study if they were older than 15 years of age, had standardized axial bone-window CT imaging at C7, and had no evidence of spinal trauma. For each lamina and pedicle, width (outer cortical and inner cancellous), maximal screw length, and optimal screw trajectory were measured, and the maximal screw length of the lateral mass were measured using m-view 5.4 software. Statistical analysis was performed using Student's t-test. Results : At C7, the maximal PS length was significantly greater than the ILS and LMS length (PS, $33.9{\pm}3.1$ mm; ILS, $30.8{\pm}3.1$ mm; LMS, $10.6{\pm}1.3$; p<0.01). When the outer cortical and inner cancellous width was compared between the pedicle and lamina, the mean pedicle outer cortical width at C7 was wider than the lamina by an average of 0.6 mm (pedicle, $6.8{\pm}1.2$ mm; lamina, $6.2{\pm}1.2$ mm; p<0.01). At C7, 95.8% of the laminae measured accepted a 4.0-mm screw with a 1.0 mm of clearance, compared with 99.2% of pedicle. Of the laminae measured, 99.2% accepted a 3.5-mm screw with a 1.0 mm clearance, compared with 100% of the pedicle. When the outer cortical and inner cancellous height was compared between pedicle and lamina, the mean lamina outer cortical height at C7 was wider than the pedicle by an average of 9.9 mm (lamina, $18.6{\pm}2.0$ mm; pedicle, $8.7{\pm}1.3$ mm; p<0.01). The ideal screw trajectory at C7 was also measured ($47.8{\pm}4.8^{\circ}$ for ILS and $35.1{\pm}8.1^{\circ}$ for PS). Conclusion : Although pedicle screw fixation is the most ideal instrumentation method for C7 fixation with respect to length and cortical diameter, anatomical aspect of C7 lamina is affordable to place screw. Therefore, the C7 intralaminar screw could be an alternative fixation technique with few anatomic limitations in the cases when C7 pedicle screw fixation is not favorable. However, anatomical variations in the length and width must be considered when placing an intralaminar or pedicle screw at C7.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.62 no.4
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• pp.376-381
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• 2019

Objective : To define optimal method that calculate the safe direction of cervical pedicle screw placement using computed tomography (CT) image based three dimensional (3D) cortical shell model of human cervical spine. Methods : Cortical shell model of cervical spine from C3 to C6 was made after segmentation of in vivo CT image data of 44 volunteers. Three dimensional Cartesian coordinate of all points constituting surface of whole vertebra, bilateral pedicle and posterior wall were acquired. The ideal trajectory of pedicle screw insertion was defined as viewing direction at which the inner area of pedicle become largest when we see through the biconcave tubular pedicle. The ideal trajectory of 352 pedicles (eight pedicles for each of 44 subjects) were calculated using custom made program and were changed from global coordinate to local coordinate according to the three dimensional position of posterior wall of each vertebral body. The transverse and sagittal angle of trajectory were defined as the angle between ideal trajectory line and perpendicular line of posterior wall in the horizontal and sagittal plane. The averages and standard deviations of all measurements were calculated. Results : The average transverse angles were $50.60^{\circ}{\pm}6.22^{\circ}$ at C3, $51.42^{\circ}{\pm}7.44^{\circ}$ at C4, $47.79^{\circ}{\pm}7.61^{\circ}$ at C5, and $41.24^{\circ}{\pm}7.76^{\circ}$ at C6. The transverse angle becomes more steep from C3 to C6. The mean sagittal angles were $9.72^{\circ}{\pm}6.73^{\circ}$ downward at C3, $5.09^{\circ}{\pm}6.39^{\circ}$ downward at C4, $0.08^{\circ}{\pm}6.06^{\circ}$ downward at C5, and $1.67^{\circ}{\pm}6.06^{\circ}$ upward at C6. The sagittal angle changes from caudad to cephalad from C3 to C6. Conclusion : The absolute values of transverse and sagittal angle in our study were not same but the trend of changes were similar to previous studies. Because we know 3D address of all points constituting cortical shell of cervical vertebrae. we can easily reconstruct 3D model and manage it freely using computer program. More creative measurement of morphological characteristics could be carried out than direct inspection of raw bone. Furthermore this concept of measurement could be used for the computing program of automated robotic screw insertion.