Kushioka J, Takenaka S, Makino T, et al. - Researchers sought for the preoperative and intraoperative risk factors that could be related to in-hospital mortality after spine surgery. Analyzing a multicenter database, they identified 25 patients who died in the hospital (the mortality group) among the 26,604 patients who underwent spine surgery. Potential of in-hospital mortality following spine surgery was much higher for patients with dialysis-dependency, infectious diseases or metastatic tumors vs those with degenerative diseases. In patients who underwent spine surgery, risk factors for in-hospital mortality were massive intraoperative hemorrhage and preoperative renal and liver comorbidities.