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Complex cervical spondylotic myelopathy: a report of two cases and literature review

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Abstract

Study Design

A report of two cases with complex cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) and review of the literature.

Objective

To describe two unique patients with complex CSM due to simultaneous anomalies as anteroposterior compressions of the spinal cord in both upper and lower cervical spine, caused by hypertrophic transverse ligament of atlas (TLA), dysplasia of the posterior arch of atlas, disc herniation, hypertrophic ligamentum flavum and osteophytes.

Methods

We present such two cases with clinical, imageological presentations, and describe the surgical procedure, to which both patients responded favorably.

Results

The neurological functions of both patients gradually improved according to the JOA scores and VAS scores in preoperative clumsiness and gait disturbance during the mean follow-up period lasted for 18 months. The latest plain radiographs and computed tomography (CT) revealed good fusion without instrumental failure and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed good decompression of C1–7 spinal cord of both patients. Both patients are progressively followed-up.

Conclusion

Posterior surgical approach as C1–7 laminectomy with fixations or occipital-cervical fusions may obtain better reconstructions of the cervical spine and good neurological recovery for the patients with complex CSM we present. However, the incidence and ethnic predisposition for the patients with complex CSM are still unclear.

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Conflict of interest

None of the authors has any potential conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, No. 188 Shizi Street, Suzhou, 215006, Jiangsu Province, China

    Zhuo Ma & Huilin Yang

  2. Department of Orthopaedics, ShanxiDa Yi Hospital, No. 99 Long Cheng Street, Taiyuan, 030031, Shanxi Province, China

    Xun Ma, Haoyu Feng & Chen Chen

Authors
  1. Zhuo Ma
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  2. Xun Ma
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  3. Huilin Yang
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  4. Haoyu Feng
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  5. Chen Chen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Huilin Yang.

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Ma, Z., Ma, X., Yang, H. et al. Complex cervical spondylotic myelopathy: a report of two cases and literature review. Eur Spine J 25 (Suppl 1), 27–32 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-015-4038-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-015-4038-3

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