KEY FACTS Imaging MR Diffuse, extensive subarachnoid enhancement Smooth or irregular meningeal enhancement Top Differential Diagnoses Carcinomatous meningitis Focal or diffuse, sheet-like or nodular enhancement along cord or nerve roots Sarcoidosis Leptomeningeal + nerve root enhancement mimics spinal meningitis Lumbar…
Anatomy-Based Imaging Issues Spread of infection may occur along 1 of many different tracts, including direct extension , lymphatic spread , hematogenous spread , and along the cerebrospinal fluid pathways . Direct extension , as its name implies, occurs when…
KEY FACTS Imaging Location Discs and synovial joints of spine Joints of axial skeleton, less commonly peripheral joints Tendon and ligament attachments (entheses) Sacroiliac joints (SIJs): Bilaterally symmetric erosive arthropathy → fusion Facet, uncovertebral joints: Erosions → fusion Squaring of…
KEY FACTS Terminology Metabolic arthropathy Crowned dens syndrome: Pain due to calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate deposition around dens Imaging Soft tissue calcifications Usually linear, occasionally globular Seen in ligaments, discs, facet joint capsules, hyaline cartilage Horseshoe-shaped calcification around dens Erosions of…
Introduction Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is a treatment option for a number of disorders. It is most commonly used to treat medically intractable seizures but has also been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat…
Introduction The provision of well-engineered, well-implanted neuroprostheses represents a major advance in the acceptability, safety, and durability of electronic controllers for paralyzed persons. Well-thought-out strategies and progressive understanding of the risks, benefits, and service and maintenance requirements of these devices…
Surgical Planning/Preoperative Considerations Planning for the implantation of an implantable drug delivery system (IDDS) requires considerations for the prevention of hardware infection, ergonomics of system function and comfort of the patient, prevention of pump pocket and catheter complications, and prevention…
Introduction Occipital electrode placement into the subcutaneous tissues, innervated by and adjacent to the greater, lesser, and/or third occipital nerves from the C2-3 nerve roots for intractable occipital headache syndromes, continues to be an evolving methodology since the first cases…
Introduction Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has been accepted as a therapeutic modality for chronic complex pain conditions of the lumbar and cervical spine ( ). Although conventional SCS has been successful for the treatment of radicular pain, either upper extremity…
Introduction Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) provides a nondestructive and adjustable method of providing symptomatic relief of neuropathic pain across several indications. Based on Melzak and Wall’s Gate Control Theory of Pain ( ), electrical stimulation of dorsal column fibers within…