Thomas Barz

Thomas Barz (born July 30, 1966 in Angermünde ) is a German spinal surgeon who, in collaboration with Markus Melloh, described the nerve root sedimentation sign, a qualitative parameter in the diagnosis of patients with lumbar spinal stenosis .

Life

Barz studied medicine at the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald and received his doctorate in 1993. For his dissertation he was awarded the doctoral prize of the University of Greifswald. After internships at Neustadt Clinic with Henry Halm, Thun Hospital with Othmar Schwarzenbach and at Queen's Medical Center in Nottingham with John Webb and Brian Freeman, he took over the management of the Spine Center at Greifswald University Hospital together with neurosurgeon Jan-Uwe Müller in 2006 . Since 2007 he has been chief physician at the clinic for orthopedics and trauma surgery at Asklepios Klinikum Uckermark in Schwedt / Oder .

research

On transverse magnetic resonance tomography (MRI) images of the lumbar spine of patients lying on their backs, Barz and Melloh observed a gravitational sinking of the lumbar nerve roots . In patients with lumbar spinal stenosis , the sinking of the lumbar nerve roots could not be observed. They called this phenomenon, which they first described in 2008, "nerve root sedimentation sign" and defined the lack of sinking of lumbar nerve roots in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis as a positive nerve root sedimentation sign. Further studies and re-analyzes of MRI data from the Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial (SPORT) (unpublished) showed that the nerve root sedimentation sign is a suitable qualitative parameter in the diagnosis of patients with lumbar spinal stenosis. A positive nerve root sedimentation sign supports the surgical indication in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis for whom there is no surgical indication based on the measured values of the dural sac surface in the MRI, but whose symptoms improve significantly more with surgical intervention than with non-surgical treatment.

Individual evidence

↑ Barz, Melloh et al .: Nerve root sedimentation sign - evaluation of a new radiological sign in lumbar spinal stenosis . In: Spine , 2010 Apr 15, 35 (8), pp. 892-897, PMID 20308945 .
^ H. Verbiest: A radicular syndrome from developmental narrowing of the lumbar vertebral canal . In: J Bone Joint Surg Br. , 1954 May, 36-B (2), pp. 230-237.
↑ Thomas Barz: Histological investigations on the development of the island organ in humans . Diss., Greifswald 1993.
↑ Barz et al .: Nerve root sedimentation sign - a new diagnostic parameter in lumbar spinal stenosis . In: Eur Spine J. , 2008 Nov, 17 (11), p. 1591.
↑ Melloh et al .: Clinical validity of the nerve root sedimentation sign for the diagnosis of lumbar spinal stenosis . In: JBJS Br Proceedings , 2012 Sept, 94-B (Suppl XLI), p. 60.

personal data
SURNAME	Barz, Thomas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German spinal surgeon
DATE OF BIRTH	July 30, 1966
PLACE OF BIRTH	Angermünde

[1] Barz, Melloh et al .: Nerve root sedimentation sign - evaluation of a new radiological sign in lumbar spinal stenosis . In: Spine , 2010 Apr 15, 35 (8), pp. 892-897, PMID 20308945 .

[2] H. Verbiest: A radicular syndrome from developmental narrowing of the lumbar vertebral canal . In: J Bone Joint Surg Br. , 1954 May, 36-B (2), pp. 230-237.

[3] Thomas Barz: Histological investigations on the development of the island organ in humans . Diss., Greifswald 1993.

[4] Barz et al .: Nerve root sedimentation sign - a new diagnostic parameter in lumbar spinal stenosis . In: Eur Spine J. , 2008 Nov, 17 (11), p. 1591.

[5] Melloh et al .: Clinical validity of the nerve root sedimentation sign for the diagnosis of lumbar spinal stenosis . In: JBJS Br Proceedings , 2012 Sept, 94-B (Suppl XLI), p. 60.