Spinal cord injury (SCI) is considered an incurable condition, having a heterogenous recovery and uncertain prognosis. Therefore, a reliable prediction of the improvement in the acute phase could benefit patients. Physicians are unanimous in insisting that at the initial damage of the spinal cord (SC), the patient should be carefully evaluated in order to help selecting an appropriate neuroprotective treatment. However, currently, neurologic impairment after SCI is measured and classified by functional examination. The identification of prognostic biomarkers of SCI would help to designate SC injured patients and correlate to diagnosis and correct treatment. Some proteins have already been identified as good potential biomarkers of central nervous system injury, both in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood serum. However, the problem for using them as biomarkers is the way they should be collected, as acquiring CSF through a lumbar puncture is significantly invasive. Remarkably, microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as interesting biomarker candidates because of their stability in biological fluids and their tissue specificity. Several miRNAs have been identified to have their expressions altered in SCI in many animal models, making them promising candidates as biomarkers after SCI. Moreover, there are yet no effective therapies for SCI. It is already known that altered lysophospholipids (LPs) signaling are involved in the biology of disorders, such as inflammation. Reports have demonstrated that LPs when locally distributed can regulate SCI repair and key secondary injury processes such as apoptosis and inflammation, and so could become in the future new therapeutic approaches for treating SCI.

Glioblastoma is the most common adult primary brain tumor that occurs in the central nervous system and is characterized by rapid growth and diffuse invasiveness with respect to the adjacent brain parenchyma, which renders surgical resection inefficient. Although it is a highly infiltrative tumor, it is rarely disseminated beyond the central nervous system, wherein extracranial metastasis is a unique but rare manifestation of this kind of tumor. It is very common for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients to be infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which suggests that a possible association between HIV infection and tumor development exists. In this paper, we present a new case of a young patient’s HIV-associated glioblastoma, with glioblastoma metastasis within the T9 vertebral body and lymph nodes in the anterior neck tissue. Initially, the patient was diagnosed with a grade III plastic astrocytoma. The patient lived a normal life for a year while being treated with temozolomide, radiotherapy, and highly active antiretroviral therapy. However, the tumor quickly evolved into a glioblastoma. We believe that the drastic progression of the tumor from a grade III anaplastic astrocytoma to a metastatic glioblastoma is due to the HIV infection that the patient had acquired, which contributed to a weakened immune system, thus accelerating progression of the cancer.

INTRODUÇÃO: a estabilização dinâmica pedicular tem sido utilizada desde os anos 1990 para o tratamento da doença lombar degenerativa como uma alternativa aos métodos de fusão. Devido às suas características de não-fusão, estes implantes tendem a reduzir a carga nos discos intervertebrais adjacentes e na coluna posterior, com o objetivo de não prejudicar a biomecânica da coluna, diminuindo assim a chance de degeneração do disco adjacente. OBJETIVO: O objetivo deste estudo retrospectivo foi avaliar, por meio do questionário SF-36, os resultados dos pacientes que se submeteram à estabilização dinâmica pedicular para o tratamento da patologia degenerativa lombar. MÉTODOS: foram avaliados 31 pacientes que se submeteram à estabilização dinâmica pedicular, de abril de 2004 a junho de 2008, por meio do questionário de qualidade de vida SF-36. RESULTADOS: o SF-36 mostrou um índice de melhora na qualidade de vida desses pacientes durante o período de acompanhamento, variando de 33,15% no pré-operatório, para 75,99% no pós-operatório, correspondente a uma diferença de 129% no resultado final, que é significativo estatisticamente de acordo com o teste t de student (p<0,0001). CONCLUSÕES: os pacientes submetidos à estabilização pedicular dinâmica em nossa série mostraram uma melhoria na qualidade de vida, comparando-se os questionários SF-36 pré e pós-operatório em 29,5 meses de acompanhamento.

Objective: Evaluate the initial results and the possible complications of the combination of pelvic fixation using iliac screws in long instrumentations of the lumbar spine in elderly patients. Methods: An analysis of 38 patients who underwent lumbar spine arthrodesis instrumentation with more than 3 levels, in which we included level L5-S1 and extended the fixation to the iliac crest. Radiological assessment of instrumentation through X-ray of the lumbar spine and pelvis, and computed tomography, to investigate the presence of radiological fusion. Clinical evaluation through a questionnaire of buttock pain including the visual analogue pain score (VAS). Complications related to pelvic instrumentation were investigated. Results: All patients had radiological fusion in the lumbosacral transition. A halo was found around the iliac screw on imaging studies in 31% of patients, but without related symptoms. The questionnaire of buttock pain found that 15% of patients had some low intensity buttock pain (VAS 1-2) and no need to or interest in removing the screws. There was infection at the surgical site in 2% of cases, hematoma in the buttocks in 5%, and vertebral body fracture in the cranial level instrumented in 7% of cases. Conclusions: Pelvic fixation through the iliac screws proved to be effective in protecting the S1 screws in long instrumentations including the L5-S1 level in elderly patients, allowing the radiological bone fusion. The overall results for pain were satisfactory, based on a questionnaire of buttock pain. There are no signs of overload or degeneration of the sacroiliac joints in the early years after surgery. Level of Evidence IV; Case series - therapeutic study.