My Dear Colleagues,
We are happy to reach the last issue of 2014. Firstly, I celebrate the Sacrifice Feast with all my colleagues and their families, and wish them happiness, health and peace.
In this issue, there are seven research articles. The first is an experimental study analyzing the effects of aminoguanidine and methylprednisolone on spinal cord injuries. I congratulate Halil İbrahim Seçer et al. on this experimental study. The second study analyzes the correlation between bone densitometer, osteophyte and disc scores in osteoporotic spinal fractures. The other five studies discuss different conservative surgical treatment results for THORACIC DISC HERNIA, except for one study that compares anterior thoracic and transthoracic approaches. I think that all these studies will greatly interest our readers.
In this issue, there are also two reviews, the first of which comprehensively analyzes the literature regarding the diagnosis and treatment of thoracic disc hernia. The other review discusses chordomas.
There are three case presentations in this issue. Two of them present cases of lumbar disc hernia, one of which is a case of sequestrum disc hernia that spontaneously regressed, and the other is a case of intradural lumbar disc hernia. The last case presentation discusses a case that received surgery due to giant cervical osteophytes.
In the “Frontiers of Spinal Surgery” section in this issue, we discuss Prof. Dr. Derya Dinçer, who made great contributions to Turkish spinal surgery at Ankara Medical School and also contributed to the development of a number of other spinal surgeons, and who is currently continuing his work at that institution. I wish him many long, healthy and peaceful years, and
express our gratitude and respect.
The “Marmara Spinal Group Meetings” are continuing, which include Istanbul and neighboring cities and are conducted to increase interest in spinal surgery, particularly for assistants and new specialists, and to contribute to training and to transfer the experiences of experienced colleagues. These meetings will be organized regularly each month by the Marmara Spinal Group Meetings Regulatory Board, of which Prof. Dr. Cüneyt Şar is performing the headship this year and Surgeon Mehmet Aydoğan is performing the secretariat.
The meetings will start in October (Wednesday 15 October) at the Avantgarde Levent Hotel with a paper entitled “Surgical Treatment Choices, Encountered Problems and Complications” presented by Prof. Dr. Azmi Hamzaoğlu. The programs of the other meetings will be announced later.
We are continuing to answer the STE questions in this issue that we publish in accordance with the request from TOTBİD TOTEK for recertification. The answers to the questions included in this issue should be sent to the addresses [email protected] or [email protected], as also indicated on the page that includes the questions. Answers received will be sent by us to the relevant secretary at TOTBİD TOTEK.
We wish health, success and peace to the Turkish Spinal Surgery family, and present our deepest respects.
Prof. Dr. İ. Teoman BENLİ
JTSS Editor