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Introduction: Symptomatic foraminal stenosis has been observed in patients with degenerative disc disease, scoliosis, asymmetrical disc degeneration and spondylolisthesis. Nevertheless not all patients with the above pathologies will develop symptomatic foraminal stenosis. We hypothesised that symptomatic patients have anatomical predisposition to foraminal stenosis, namely a larger pedicle height (PH) to vertebral body height (VH) ratio, leaving less room below the pedicle for the exiting nerve root compared to asymptomatic patients. Patient sample: 66 Patients were divided in two groups. The surgical group consisted of 37 patients (average age of 61years) who presented with severe radicular symptoms resisting to conservative measures and requiring decompression and transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF). The control group consisted of 29 patients (average age of 51years) presenting with low back pain (LBP) but with no radicular symptoms and who were treated conservatively. Methods: We measured VH at the level of the posterior wall as well as PH on parasagittal images (CT or MRI) on all lumbar levels (L1 to L5). Statistical analysis was performed using Student's t test. Results: No difference in PH was found between the two groups for L1 to L4 levels. By contrast, there was a highly statistically significant difference in VH between the two groups from L1 to L4 level. In the surgical group, the VH was smaller (p<0.001). Conclusions: Symptomatic patients with foraminal stenosis have smaller VH leading to lesser space beneath the pedicle and putting the exiting nerve root at risk in cases of spondylolisthesis or disc degeneration.

Introduction: Early diagnosis and early treatment have become the gold standard for management of developmental dysplasia of the hip. Surgery is required in case of failed initial treatment. Innominate pelvic osteotomy of Salter (SIO), Pemberton's pericapsular osteotomy (PPO) and Dega's acetabuloplasty (DA) are among the most used procedures. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of the past 57 years in order to assess the mid- and long-term outcome of these techniques. Methods: Studies met inclusion criteria if they: (1) reported at least 5 cases treated by 1 of the abovementioned surgical techniques; (2) included children aged between 1 and 8 years; (3) surgical indication was late detected DDH or a failed initial treatment; (4) presented a minimal follow-up of 24 months; (5) reported the radiological score of Severin and/or the clinical score of McKay. Clinical and radiological outcomes were dichotomised into favourable and unfavourable outcome and weighted summary rates were determined using meta-analysis models. Results: From a total of 7391 articles, 48 level of evidence grade IV articles were included in our review. A total of 2143 cases with a mean follow up of 112.4 months were included. Pooled Severin score indicated a statistically better outcome for PPO and DA compared to SIO (p = 0.0003 andp = 0.002, respectively). By dichotomising the results in favourable and unfavourable outcome, PPO showed the best results (p = 0.0002 vs. SIO,p = 0.01 vs. DA). Pooled McKay score showed a statistically better outcome for PPO and DA compared to SIO (p < 0.0001 andp = 0.03, respectively) as well as better outcomes for PPO compared to DA (p = 0.01). By dichotomising the results in favourable and unfavourable, PPO showed the best results. Conclusions: Even if our review demonstrates slightly better radiological and clinical results with the PPO, the currently available and limited data do not allow for clear recommendation towards one of these techniques.

Introduction: Symptomatic foraminal stenosis has been observed in patients with degenerative disc disease, scoliosis, asymmetrical disc degeneration and spondylolisthesis. Nevertheless not all patients with the above pathologies will develop symptomatic foraminal stenosis. We hypothesised that symptomatic patients have anatomical predisposition to foraminal stenosis, namely a larger pedicle height (PH) to vertebral body height (VH) ratio, leaving less room below the pedicle for the exiting nerve root compared to asymptomatic patients. Patient sample: 66 Patients were divided in two groups. The surgical group consisted of 37 patients (average age of 61years) who presented with severe radicular symptoms resisting to conservative measures and requiring decompression and transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF). The control group consisted of 29 patients (average age of 51years) presenting with low back pain (LBP) but with no radicular symptoms and who were treated conservatively. Methods: We measured VH at the level of the posterior wall as well as PH on parasagittal images (CT or MRI) on all lumbar levels (L1 to L5). Statistical analysis was performed using Student's t test. Results: No difference in PH was found between the two groups for L1 to L4 levels. By contrast, there was a highly statistically significant difference in VH between the two groups from L1 to L4 level. In the surgical group, the VH was smaller (p<0.001). Conclusions: Symptomatic patients with foraminal stenosis have smaller VH leading to lesser space beneath the pedicle and putting the exiting nerve root at risk in cases of spondylolisthesis or disc degeneration.