Background: A jumped facet joint is defined by when the inferior articular process of the superior vertebra becomes locked anterior to the superior articular process of the inferior vertebra. These typically traumatic lesions are exceedingly rare in the thoracic spine. Here, we present a patient with a unilateral jumped facet joint in the upper thoracic spine treated with open reduction and an instrumented fusion.Case Description: A 45-year-old male presented after a significant motor vehicle accident. In the emergency room, he had a Glasgow Coma Score of 13 without any neurologic deficit. The thoracic computed tomography (CT) showed a significant jumped left facet at the T2-T3 level. Two days later, utilizing intraoperative CT-guided navigation and neuromonitoring, he underwent open reduction of the T2-T3 jumped facet plus an instrumented T1-T5 fusion. X-rays taken 3-month postoperatively showed a stable construct. Six months postoperatively, he remained neurologically intact.Conclusion: A unilateral jumped thoracic facet may be present in patients with fractured ribs. The mechanism of injury is most likely axial rotation. Both CT and magnetic resonance imaging studies allow for early detection of these very rare lesions and warrant open reduction and instrumented fusion.

Background: Chordoma is a rare bone cancer with limited treatment options. Clinical trials are crucial for developing effective therapies, but their success depends on including diverse patient populations. The objective of this study was to systematically evaluate the reporting of racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity in United States clinical trials exploring treatment for chordoma. Methods: A literature search was conducted through PubMed/Medline, Cochrane, Epistemonikos, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases for published US chordoma trials up until 19 August 2024. The data collected included trial characteristics and racial and ethnic data, as well as socioeconomic indicators when available. Methodological Index for Non-Randomized Studies (MINORS) and Revised Cochrane Risk-of-Bias Tool for Randomized Trials (RoB2) analyses were adopted to assess the methodological quality. The N-1 Chi-squared (χ²) test was implemented to compare the reported racial and ethnic data with the most recent US Census Bureau data. Results: Five trials involving 111 patients (median age: 63 years; 34% female) were included. Four studies (80%) were single-arm non-randomized studies with one study (25%) having a high methodological quality and three (75%) having a moderate quality based on the MINORS analysis. Most patients (91%, n = 82) were White/Caucasian, representing a proportion which was significantly higher than the reported 75% in the US population (p = 0.0005). Black/African American patients (2%, n = 2) were significantly underrepresented compared to the 14% in the US population (p = 0.0015). Regarding ethnicity, Hispanic/Latino patients (7%, n = 6) were significantly underrepresented compared to the 20% in the US population (p = 0.0021). No measures of socioeconomic status were reported. Conclusions: This systematic review highlighted the need for improved racial and ethnic diversity in chordoma trials and the better reporting of socioeconomic data. The underrepresentation of minority groups may obscure potential disparities in disease incidence, treatment access, and clinical outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Patients with multiple myeloma (MM) are commonly managed by multidisciplinary oncology teams in concordance with the neurological, oncological, mechanical, and systematic decision framework. Surgery is indicated for mechanical instability and/or neurological deficits. In neurologically intact and mechanically stable patients, chemo- and radiotherapy alone are often the mainstay treatment. OBSERVATIONS: A 66-year-old male patient presented with a kyphotic chin-on-chest deformity due to undiagnosed spinal MM. He experienced progressive neck pain and difficulty with activities of daily living (ADLs). Imaging revealed systematic bony element destruction and burst deformities at T1–2 with cervicothoracic central canal stenosis. Due to his disease burden and neurological preservation, spinal alignment was initially achieved via halo traction and immobilization, allowing him to begin systemic therapy almost immediately after diagnosis and improving vertebral bone density and construct integrity prior to surgery. He underwent C2–T10 decompression and instrumented fusion with cement augmentation. At 12 months postoperatively, the patient reported improvement in symptomology and ADLs without radiographic evidence of hardware failure or spinal instability. LESSONS: Spinal MM with instability can be successfully managed with gradual deformity realignment and external orthosis before surgery in a neurologically intact patient with a significant disease burden. https://thejns.org/doi/10.3171/CASE2441