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Iatrogenic Contributions to Cervical Adjacent Segment Pathology

Review Article

  • Cervical Spine Symposium
  • Published:
HSS Journal ®

Abstract

Background

Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) is widely accepted as a predictably excellent procedure. On the other hand, adjacent level pathology following ACDF is a well-known phenomenon which undercuts surgical outcome. However, the extent to which ACDF accelerates this phenomenon in the naturally degenerating cervical spine is still to be understood.

Questions/Purposes

To summarize the current evidence concerning adjacent segment pathology in the light of biomechanics, natural history, postoperative course, and comparison between ACDF and total disc replacement (TDR).

Methods

This is a study of published articles. Articles were searched by the topic of adjacent disc pathology in cervical spine through Google Scholar and Pubmed. After review, 37 published articles were deemed suitable for the subject of this study.

Results

Biomechanical and clinical data strongly suggest that ASP is a presentation of the iatrogenically accelerated natural aging process of cervical spine. However, power study analysis with assumption showed that current RCTs are unlikely to prove this suggestion.

Conclusion

Available data suggests that iatrogenic factors play a significant role in adjacent segment pathology following ACDF.

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Disclosures

Conflict of Interest

Haruki Ueda, MD, Russel C. Huang, MD, and Darren R. Lebl, MD have declared that they have no conflict of interest

Human/Animal Rights

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by the any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hospital for Special Surgery Spine Care Institute, Weill Cornell College of Medicine, New York, NY, 10065, USA

    Haruki Ueda MD, Russel C. Huang MD & Darren R. Lebl MD

  2. Hospital for Special Surgery, 535 East 70th Street, New York, NY, 10021, USA

    Haruki Ueda MD

Authors
  1. Haruki Ueda MD
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  2. Russel C. Huang MD
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  3. Darren R. Lebl MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Haruki Ueda MD.

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Ueda, H., Huang, R.C. & Lebl, D.R. Iatrogenic Contributions to Cervical Adjacent Segment Pathology. HSS Jrnl 11, 26–30 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11420-014-9409-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11420-014-9409-5

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