Thoughts on non-fusion
I asked my first spine surgeon about fusion. She said that frequently doctors think that they see fusion in their patients and less likely to see fusion when judging radiological films of other doctor's patients. The take home message there was that the judgement can be subjective. Having said that, if a halo appears at the site that should fuse, it generally means that there is not fusion at that site. I can see how that makes sense since a solid fusion would be opaque.
Susan
Adult Onset Degenerative Scoliosis @65, 25* T & 36* L w/ 11.2 cm coronal balance; T kyphosis 90*; Severe disc degen T & L stenosis
2013: T3- S1 Fusion w/ ALIF L4-S1/XLIF L2-4, PSF T4-S1 2 surgeries
2014: Hernia @ ALIF repaired; Emergency screw removal Spinal Cord Injury T4,5 sec to PJK
2015: Revision Broken Bil T & L rods and no fusion: 2 revision surgeries; hardware P. Acnes infection
2016: Ant/Lat Lumbar diskectomy w/ 4 cages + BMP + harvested bone
2018: Removal L5 screw