Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

R R Karpman

Publications and source records attributed to R R Karpman.

27 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

Spinal cord injury, spinal fracture, and spinal stenosis in ankylosing spondylitis.

The authors report a retrospective review of 105 patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) diagnosed over a 6-year period in Tucson, Arizona. In the series, there were 13 patients with spinal fractures and eight with severe spinal cord injury. Two patients with central cord contusion had no demonstrable cervical spine fracture. Injury was often trivial and dislocation at fractures sites was minimal, demonstrating the extreme fragility of these patients. Spinal stenosis, which has not previously been associated with AS, was documented in three cases. Pseudarthrosis, a destructive vertebral lesion that does not require surgical decompression or fusion, was found in four patients; this entity is believed to originate as a pathological or traumatic fracture. Atlanto-axial subluxation and basilar invagination associated with spinal ankylosis occurred in one patient. The study emphasizes the value of computerized tomography scanning of the spine for diagnosis, and halo-vest application as a nonoperative treatment for cervical immobilization. Early diagnosis and appropriate therapy to decompress, reduce, and immobilize unstable spinal lesions may result in reduction of the 29% mortality rate and 45% permanent neurological morbidity rate observed after spinal fracture in this series of AS patients. Because of the high operative complication rate observed, nonsurgical immobilization is the recommended treatment unless spinal dislocation or bone fragment displacement has occurred at the fracture site.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Serum CPK isoenzyme BB as an indicator of brain tissue damage following head injury.

In a study of 209 patients who had serum drawn for assay of creatine phosphokinase (CPK) isoenzymes, an attempt was made to correlate elevation of CPK brain fraction (BB) with occurrence of brain injury and to evaluate its sensitivity as an indicator of the presence of brain damage. Thirty-three patients had suffered serious head trauma. However, of the ten patients in coma, only three had elevated serum CPK-BB levels. Twenty-four of the other 176 patients who had no history and head injury also had positive BB fractions. Serum CPK-BB level was therefore an unreliable indicator of the extent of brain damage.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Lumbar spinal stenosis in a patient with diffuse idiopathic skeletal hypertrophy syndrome.

Lumbar spinal stenosis is associated with a variety of conditions, including dysplastic narrowing of the spine, lumbar spondylosis, Paget's disease, and achondroplastic dwarfism. No case of lumbar stenosis associated with diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) previously has been described. It would appear that this case could represent either another manifestation of DISH characterized by involvement of the ligamentum flavum or coincidental association with lumbar spondylosis. In either case, physicians treating spinal and skeletal diseases should be aware of potential neurologic complications requiring surgical decompression due to narrowing of the spinal canal in this unusual disorder.

Bone Diseases↗