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Updated: Jun 7, 2025
Clinical Application of Microscope-Assisted Minimally Invasive Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion
Published on: June 16, 2023
Prevalence and Prognosis of Coronal Malalignment Following Lateral Lumbar Interbody Fusion for Minimally Invasive
Andrew K Chan1, Shailen G Sampath1, Praveen V Mummaneni2
1Department of Neurological Surgery, Columbia University, New York, NY.
Study Design:
Retrospective analysis of prospective multicenter adult spinal deformity (ASD) database.
Objective:
To determine the prevalence and prognosis of postoperative coronal malalignment following LLIF for ASD with Qiu type A coronal alignment.
Summary Of Background Data:
Qiu type A coronal alignment is defined as coronal vertical axis (CVA) <30 mm. There is concern that circumferential minimally invasive surgery (cMIS) with lateral lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF) is associated with postoperative coronal malalignment in ASD with preoperative Qiu type A patients.
Materials And Methods:
Qui type A patients undergoing cMIS with LLIF for ASD were included, with ASD defined with at least: maximum CC ≥20°, SVA >5 cm, PI-LL ≥10°, or PT >20°. Two-year (2Y) clinical outcomes were compared for type A with 2Y CVA ≥30 mm (MAL) versus <30 mm (ALIGN) and were adjusted for factors reaching P <0.05 on univariate comparisons (age, BMI, and ODI).
Results:
Forty-three patients met inclusion criteria, of which 12 (27.9%) developed coronal malalignment and 31 (72.1%) remained coronally aligned at 2Y. At baseline, MAL were older (73.0 vs. 69.0, P =0.045), had a lower BMI (26.09 vs. 29.45, P =0.045), and were less disabled (ODI: 42.83 vs . 51.69, P =0.02). Otherwise, the groups were well-matched for baseline characteristics. At 2Y, MAL had a greater 2Y SVA (mean: 54.08 vs. 19.00 mm, P =0.01). Clinically, MAL was associated with inferior 2Y SF-36 PCS (34.78 vs . 37.42, adj P =0.04) and 2Y SRS-22r function/activity domain (3.03 vs . 3.36, adj P =0.04), but otherwise similar in other patient-reported outcome metrics (adj P >0.05 for all). 2Y complications were similar between groups, including for reoperations and major and minor complications (adj P >0.05 for all).
Conclusions:
In Qui type A patients undergoing cMIS with LLIF for ASD, 27.9% develop coronal malalignment, which was associated with worse SF-36 PCS and SRS-22r function/activity. Despite radiographic malalignment, malalignment was not associated with higher two-year complication rates including reoperations.
