title: Effectiveness of percutaneous vertebroplasty in cases of vertebral metastases.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the effectiveness of percutaneous vertebroplasty (PV) in patients with vertebral collapse due to metastases.
  
  
  METHODS
  PV procedures performed on 95 vertebras in 52 patients with primary malignancy were retrospectively evaluated. Vertebral metastases, primary malignancies of the patients, pain before and after PV on a visual analogue scale (VAS), amount of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) cement applied to the vertebral body during PV, PMMA cement leakage and vertebral approaches were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  VAS scores of 43 patients (in total 79 vertebras) were evaluated. Median VAS scores of patients declined from 8 (4-10) before PV to 3 (0-7) within one day after the procedure, to 2 (0-9) one week after the procedure and eventually to 2 (0-9) 3months after the procedure (p<0.001). PMMA amount applied to the vertebral body during PV varied between 1.5-9mL (average±SD 4.91±1.61). There was no significant statistical correlation between PMMA amounts and VAS scores within one day after, 1week after and 3months after the PV procedure (p>0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PV is a simple, effective, reliable, easy to perform and minimally invasive procedure in patients with painful vertebral metastases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey. Electronic address: omerfatihnas@gmail.com.
authors.forename: O F
authors.initials: OF
authors.lastname: Nas
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Rize, Turkey. Electronic address: drinecikli@gmail.com.
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Inecikli
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Afyon Kocatepe University, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey. Electronic address: dremrekacar@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kacar
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Duzce University, Duzce, Turkey. Electronic address: rbuyukkaya@gmail.com.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Buyukkaya
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey. Electronic address: ozkaya@uludag.edu.tr.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ozkaya
authors.affiliation: Radiology Clinic, Ali Osman Sonmez Oncology Hospital, Bursa, Turkey. Electronic address: oaydindr@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Aydın
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey. Electronic address: cerdogan@uludag.edu.tr.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Erdogan
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey. Electronic address: bhakyemez@uludag.edu.tr.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hakyemez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005598:Fractures, Spontaneous / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013125:Spinal Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D054854:Vertebroplasty / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Percutaneous vertebroplasty (PV); Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA); Vertebral metastases; Visual analogue scale (VAS)