Category: Research

Recent Publication in Spine Deformity

Post 8-9-2023 Take-away message: Regardless of fixation, whether it be the spine or the ribs, the spine will get stiffer over time with dual magnetically-controlled growing rods.

Recent Publication on Anterior Vertebral Body Tethering (AVBT) Compared with Posterior Spinal Fusion for Major Thoracic Curves: A Retrospective Comparison by the Harms Study Group

Study Cohort: Thoracic Idiopathic Scoliosis patients who underwent Anterior Vertebral Body Tethering (AVBT) with minimum 2-year follow-up after surgery and propensity matched to Posterior Spinal Fusion (PSF) patients from Harms Study Group multicenter database. 237 AVBT patients (thoracic curve tethered only) vs. 237 PSF patients Propensity matched using: age, preoperative thoracic curve magnitude, sex, and […]

Published study in Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery: Trunk Motion of Vertebral Body Tethering vs. Posterior Spinal Fusion

This was a study of trunk (back) motion from the Philadelphia Shriners hospital by a previous spine fellow from Washington University, Dr. Joshua Pahys.  This elegant study used a motion analysis lab to quantify back motion between two groups of patients: 1) 65 patients having undergone Vertebral Body Tethering (VBT), and 2) 47 patients who […]

Latest Publication on Intraoperative Halo-Femoral Traction

  Appointments: 314-514-3500                      Appointments: 314-432-3600    This study was just published in the Journal of Spine Deformity For those interested to read more please use this hyperlink supplied by the publisher: https://rdcu.be/cFHmd

New publication comparing MAGEC Growing Rods, Posterior Spinal Fusion and Vertebral Body Tether in 8-11 year old scoliosis patients

  Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2021 Oct 1.  doi: 10.1097/BRS.0000000000004245. Online ahead of print. Magnetically Controlled Growing Rods (MCGR) Versus Single Posterior Spinal Fusion (PSF) Versus Vertebral Body Tether (VBT) in Older Early Onset Scoliosis (EOS) Patients: How Do Early Outcomes Compare? Catherine Mackey 1, Regina Hanstein, Yungtai Lo, Majella Vaughan, Tricia St Hilaire, Scott J Luhmann, Michael G Vitale, Michael P Glotzbecker, Amer Samdani, Stefan Parent, Jaime […]

Another new study on Vertebral Body Tethering (VBT)

This study comes from the San Diego group, who have a long, cautious experience with VBT. 23 patients whose mean age at surgery was 12.2 +/- 1.6 years Preoperatively: Mean curve 53 +/- 8 degrees All were Risser 0-1, Sanders 2-3 at surgery Minimum follow-up after surgery of 2 years, with mean follow-up of 3.4 […]

Blog Post on the latest, hot-off-the-presses publication on Vertebral Body Tethering

  Some important points of this paper: 1.     1.  Surgeries done 2011-2015, prior to FDA approval 2.     2.  FDA primarily interested in device safety, secondarily on efficacy 3.    3.   Inclusion criteria: a. Only include Type 1A and 1B curve patterns, which means only main thoracic curves. b. There were NO curve patterns with structural […]

Idiopathic Scoliosis

Below is a 16 year old female with idiopathic scoliosis, who is otherwise healthy. She noticed gradual development of waist asymmetry and a right rib prominence in the back.  She was have daily back pain with athletics and having pain while in school. The below radiographs/x-rays demonstrate she has a 71 degree right thoracic curve […]

New Publication to Review

117 patients were analyzed to assess if any of the preoperative labs could identify which patients were at a greater risk for a deep surgical site than other patients. We are constantly striving to minimize, and ideally eliminate, surgical site infections after posterior spinal fusion.  There is a lot more work to be done! To […]