Robert W. Bailey

Stabilization of the cervical spine by anterior fusion.

This paper recounts chronologically the development and application of an original procedure for anterior fusion of the cervical spine. Twenty patients with various pathological lesions of the cervical spine were treated by this operation. No complications specifically related to this technique occu

Radiographic changes following anterior cervical fusion.

In nine patients who underwent anterior cervical fusions for cervical spondylosis, preoperative cervical spine films were compared with radiographs taken seven to 15 years after fusion. Eight of the nine patients were found to have radiographic evidence of increased degenerative diseases located primarily below the level of fusion but occasionally occurring both above and below the fusion. Whether these degenerative changes are the bodys response to altered mechanical forces on joints next to a now immobile spinal segment or whether these changes merely represent the natural progression of the degenerative disease process could not be ascertained from this study. Perhaps both factors contributed.

Long term radiographic changes following anterior cervical fusion

Long-term follow-up radiographs of patients with anterior cervical fusions demonstrated progressive cervical spondylosis and osteophytes at levels above and below the fusion. The findings may represent a response to altered stresses imposed by the surgery.

Observations of Cervical Intervertebral-Disc Lesions in Fractures and Dislocations

This study reports the findings in the cervical intervertebral discs in fractures and dislocations examined through the anterior approach to the cervical spine. Injuries to the disc varied according to the mechanism of injury responsible for the dislocation. The intervertebral disc is a most significant bond between the vertebrae and contributes a major degree of stability to the cervical spine. Loss of posterior supporting structures after laminectomy, especially if extensive, places abnormal stress on the intervertebral disc, which may give-way many years later, resulting in spontaneous dislocation and compromise of the spinal cord. In such instances the altered disc exhibits loss of elasticity of the annulus fibrosus, excessive mobility at the interspace, and a nucleus pulposus which is atrophic and mucoid in appearance.

Radical exarticulation of the extremities for the curative and palliative treatment of malignant neoplasms.

From 1945 to 1959, thirty-four patients with malignant tumor of the extremities were treated by exarticulation at the University of Michigan Medical Center. Two of these patients were so treated to palliate painful metastatic lesions. In three others, all of whom were treated by hemipelvectomy, incomplete removal of the tumor at the time of surgery was recognized. Of the thirty-two patients treated for primary malignant tumors in the extremities, fourteen are still alive. Of ten patients who had disarticulation of the hip, only one has survived longer than five years; another still survives, at the time of writing, two and one-half years after operation. Of the sixteen patients undergoing hemipelvectomy, four have survived more than five years; three more, who were operated on less than five years ago, are alive at the time of writing. Of eight patients who had forequarter amputation, three have survived longer than five years, and three more are still alive less than five years after operation.

Fractures and Dislocations of the Cervical Spine: Orthopedic and Neurosurgical Aspects

Fractures and dislocations of the cervical spine are constantly increasing. Trauma, chiefly from automobile accidents, is the most frequent cause.Whether or not the patient is conscious, accurate neurologic and general physical assessment must be made before special diagnostic studies are undertaken. Roentgenograms of good quality are essential to diagnosis and treatment.Injury to the spinal cord or nerve roots must be recognized immediately, and any neurologic disturbance must be accurately interpreted to avoid further damage.The author discusses methods of reducing cervical spine fractures and dislocations and the use of anterior and posterior cervical fusion.

Replacement of a cervical vertebral body for aneurysmal cyst. A case report.

Case Report \v. H., a forty-seven-year-old nnan was adnnitted to Ummiversity hospital, Aim Arbor, on May 17, 1966, with a three-nnonnth history of paimn amid stiffnness imn the upper part of his nieck amnd occa.siomnal simboccipital headaches. lie had beemi imi good health tmntil that time. There were mio synnpt.onis simggestimig systemic or neurological imnvolvememit. He had beemi evaluated thoroughly by his local 1)in siciami. A lytic lesiomi of the bxly of the second cervical vertebra had beemn demomnstrated. No oilier osseous lesiomns were present omi skeletal roentgenographic survey. The usual serunn studies imiclu(himig a hemogram, blood urea nitrogemn, calcium, phosphorus, acid an(l alkahimie phosphatase, and proteimn electrophoresis, were normal.