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Anterior corpectomy and fusion for severe ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament in the cervical spine

2008; Springer Science+Business Media; Volume: 33; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/s00264-008-0542-y

1432-5195

Yu Chen, Deyu Chen, Xinwei Wang, Xuhai Lu, Yongfei Guo, Zhimin He, Haijun Tian,

Spinal Fractures and Fixation Techniques

Between May 2002 and October 2006, 19 patients (17 men and 2 women; average age 57.2; range 47–71 years) received anterior corpectomy and fusion for severe ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) in our department. Preoperative radiological evaluation showed the narrowing by the OPLL exceeded 50% in all cases, and OPLL extended from one to three vertebrae. We followed-up all patients for 12–36 months (mean 18 months). The Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score before surgery was 9.3 ± 1.8 (range 5–12) which significantly increased to 14.2 ± 1.3 (range 11–16) points at the last follow-up (P < 0.01). The improvement rate (IR) of neurological function ranged from 22.2–87.5%, with a mean of 63.2% ± 15.2%. The operation also provided a significant increase in the cervical lordosis and the cord flatting rate (P < 0.01). No severe neurological complication developed. We therefore concluded that anterior decompression and fusion was effective and safe in the treatment of the selected patients, although OPLL exceeded 50% diameter of the spinal canal.