M. J. J. Clarke, M.D.

The purpose of this registry is to collect clinical, diagnostic, and therapeutic data specific for primary spinal column tumor patients, and evaluate it to understand the predictive factors which influence survival, local recurrence, adverse events, perioperative morbidity, and health related quality of life.

The purpose of this study is to determine the incidence of swallowing disorders and the risk for aspiration in elderly patients who have cervical spine fractures.

The purpose of this study is to document short and long term death rates following odontoid process (neck) fracture in patients age 80 and older, comparing between surgical repair and non-surgery treatments.

The main purpose of this study is to utilize a comprehensive, prospective clinical database to collect patient, diagnostic and treatment variables along with disease specific and generic health related quality of life (HRQOL) data on consecutively treated patients with metastatic spine tumors. The objectives are to determine the validity and reliability of the Spine Cancer Outcomes Questionnaire (SCOQ) for use in the assessment of spine tumor outcomes, to determine if the Spine Instability Neoplastic Score (SINS) Classification is a valid tool for predicting the stability of spine in metastatic spine disease, and to determine the efficacy of surgery versus radiotherapy for the treatment of impending instability secondary to metastatic disease of the spine.

Postoperative urinary retention is a frequent complication of spinal surgeries and impacts a large portion of this population which results in increased morbidity as a result of increased number of catheterizations, urinary tract infections (UTIs) and prolonged hospital stays. With the addition of Tamsulosin, the investigators would anticipate a reduction in the incidence and duration of postoperative urinary retention and therefore a reduction in morbidity related to treatment of urinary retention as well as shortened hospital stays.