Vertebroplasty: Dangerous Learning Curve

With the increasing popularity of vertebroplasty, a minimally invasive procedure for treating vertebral compression fractures, reports of multiple deaths--apparently due to leakage of bone cement from the vertebral body through the veins and into the CV system and lungs--are beginning to surface.

With the increasing popularity of vertebroplasty, a minimally invasive procedure for treating vertebral compression fractures, reports of multiple patient deaths are beginning to surface. While not related to the products from companies developing delivery systems and/or new materials for vertebroplasty, such as Kyphon Inc. , Orthovita Inc. , and American OsteoMedix Corp. (AOM), which in May merged with spinal implant maker Interpore Cross International Inc.[See Deal], the issue is one they must squarely face as they develop clinical data to support their products.

For years, surgeons ignored compression fractures, a particular problem in osteoporotic women, because intervention in those patients was risky, and surgeons didn't have a good tool. "Screws didn't work because...

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