The CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) diagram. ICBG = iliac crest bone graft.

Detailed diagram of patient selection. BS = bone scanning, CT = computed tomography, MRI = magnetic resonance imaging, and pts = patients.

Distribution of patients with atypical numbers of vertebrae.

Application of motor evoked potential (MEP) electrodes and recording of amplitudes. A pair of stainless-steel needle electrodes separated by approximately 3 cm was inserted in each target muscle, and the MEP signals were visualized on a transcranial electrical stimulation (TES)-MEP monitor.

Fig. 1-A A thirteen-year-old girl with a 53° lumbar curve and a 30° thoracic idiopathic curve preoperatively. Fig. 1-B Radiographs made three weeks after surgery. Fig. 1-C Radiographs made twenty-three years after surgery.

Algorithm for patients included in the study. VBS = vertebral body stenting and BKP = balloon kyphoplasty.

Hematoxylin and eosin-stained sections of control (Figs. 1-A and 1-B) and experimental (Figs. 1-C and 1-D) nerves three weeks after placement of rhBMP-2. Lower-magnification images showed normal fascicular structure with perineurium separating the fascicles and epineurium surrounding the nerve. Blood vessels of various sizes can be seen within the epineurium and within some fascicles. Higher-magnification images demonstrate both transverse and longitudinally oriented nerve fibers. The appearance of control and experimental tissues was similar in the one-week group. One rat in the three-week group (Figs. 1-E and 1-F) showed focal neuronal degeneration with homogenization of the nervous tissues (asterisk). This same rat demonstrated solid myelin sheaths without axons in toluidine blue-stained sections (see Figs. 3-G and 3-H). Scale bar = 200 μm in Figs. 1-A, 1-C, and 1-E. Scale bar = 50 μm in Figs. 1-B, 1-D, and 1-F.

Three-dimensional bone models at five instants of the flexion cycle from a representative control subject. Sagittal views are above, and coronal views are below. Intervertebral kinematics were determined for each pair of adjacent vertebrae (superior bone motion relative to immediately inferior bone) with use of coordinate systems embedded within each vertebral body.

Demonstration of the surgeon applying an alcohol foam as a preliminary preparation of the surgical site and surrounding plastic drapes.

Comparison of operative time between the arthroplasty group and the anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF, “control”) group. SD = standard deviation, IV = inverse variance, CI = confidence interval, and df = degrees of freedom.