title: Apophyseal joint degeneration in the cervical spine following halo-pelvic distraction.
abstract: A review of the roentgenograms and clinical findings of 100 patients seen consecutively who had had halo-pelvic distraction for the correction of spinal deformity showed an overall incidence of cases with apophyseal joint degeneration of 47.4%. There were independent and significant differences between the asymptomatic and symptomatic groups with regard to patients' ages and the amounts of the time spent in halo-pelvic distraction. Stepwise discriminant analysis has yielded a table of the maximum amount of time a patient can spend in halo-pelvic traction per year of age, beyond which there is a significant chance of developing degenerative changes.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007738:Kyphosis / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D009984:Orthopedic Fixation Devices / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012600:Scoliosis / Q000601:surgery; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D014143:Traction / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000295:instrumentation; D014399:Tuberculosis, Spinal / Q000601:surgery