Monitoring the spinal cord during surgery for cervical myelopathy

Author(s):  
Steve Jones
1989 ◽  
Vol 3 (0) ◽  
pp. 137-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimihiko Mii ◽  
Hideo Iida ◽  
Shigekuni Tachibana ◽  
Takashi Ohwada ◽  
Kenzo Yada

2007 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharad Rajpal ◽  
Krisada Chanbusarakum ◽  
Praveen R. Deshmukh

✓Myelopathy caused by a spinal cord infection is typically related to an adjacent compressive lesion such as an epidural abscess. The authors report a case of progressive high cervical myelopathy from spinal cord tethering caused by arachnoiditis related to an adjacent C-2 osteomyelitis. This 70-year-old woman initially presented with a methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus osteomyelitis involving the C-2 odontoid process. She was treated with appropriate antibiotic therapy but, over the course of 4 weeks, she developed progressive quadriparesis. A magnetic resonance image revealed near-complete resolution of the C-2 osteomyelitis, but new ventral tethering of the cord was observed at the level of the odontoid tip. She subsequently underwent open surgical decompression and cord detethering. Postoperatively she experienced improvement in her symptoms and deficits, which continued to improve 1 year after her surgery. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first reported case of progressive upper cervical myelopathy due to arachnoiditis and cord tethering from an adjacent methicillin-sensitive S. aureus C-2 osteomyelitis.


Neurosurgery ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 521-528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aria Nouri ◽  
Lindsay Tetreault ◽  
Satoshi Nori ◽  
Allan R Martin ◽  
Anick Nater ◽  
...  

Abstract BACKGROUND Congenital spinal stenosis (CSS) of the cervical spine is a risk factor for acute spinal cord injury and development of degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM). OBJECTIVE To develop magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based criteria to diagnose preexisting CSS and evaluate differences between patients with and without CSS. METHODS A secondary analysis of international prospectively collected data between 2005 and 2011 was conducted. We examined the data of 349 surgical DCM patients and 27 controls. Spinal canal and cord anteroposterior diameters were measured at noncompressed sites to calculate spinal cord occupation ratio (SCOR). Torg–Pavlov ratios and spinal canal diameters from radiographs were correlated with SCOR. Clinical and MRI factors were compared between patients with and without CSS. Surgical outcomes were also assessed. RESULTS Calculation of SCOR was feasible in 311/349 patients. Twenty-six patients with CSS were identified (8.4%). Patients with CSS were younger than patients without CSS (P = .03) and had worse baseline severity as measured by the modified Japanese Orthopedic Association score (P = .04), Nurick scale (P = .05), and Neck Disability Index (P < .01). CSS patients more commonly had T2 cord hyperintensity changes (P = .09, ns) and worse SF-36 Physical Component scores (P = .06, ns). SCOR correlated better with Torg–Pavlov ratio and spinal canal diameter at C3 than C5. Patients with SCOR ≥ 65% were also younger but did not differ in baseline severity. CONCLUSION SCOR ≥ 70% is an effective criterion to diagnose CSS. CSS patients develop myelopathy at a younger age and have greater impairment and disability than other patients with DCM. Despite this, CSS patients have comparable duration of symptoms, MRI presentations, and surgical outcomes to DCM patients without CSS.


Author(s):  
Y. Ohmi ◽  
S. Harata ◽  
K. Ueyama ◽  
Y. Okamura ◽  
H. Sasaki ◽  
...  

BMC Neurology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Takuro Endo ◽  
Taku Sugawara ◽  
Naoki Higashiyama

Abstract Background Persistent first intersegmental artery (PFIA) is a rare anatomical variation of vertebral arteries and is an asymptomatic finding in most cases. Here we report a rare case of cervical myelopathy caused by spinal cord compression by the PFIA. Case presentation The patient was a 52-year-old man who complained of numbness and burning sensation around the neck and left shoulder area, partial weakness in the left deltoid muscle, right side thermal hypoalgesia, and disturbance of deep sensation since the past 1 year, and the symptoms had gradually worsened. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) showed spinal cord compression by the left PFIA at the C1/C2 level. Because conservative treatment was ineffective, microvascular decompression (MVD) of the PFIA was performed. The left PFIA was laterally transposed using polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) bands and anchored to the dura mater using three PTFE bands. To achieve adequate transposition, the small blood vessels bridging the spinal cord and PFIA and the dorsal root nerve had to be sacrificed. Postoperative T2-weighted MRI showed a small hyperintense region in the lateral funiculus of the spinal cord, but no new neurological deficits were identified. In the early postoperative stage, the patient’s deep sensory impairment and motor dysfunction were improved. His numbness and burning sensation almost disappeared, but slight thermal hypoalgesia remained in the lower limb. Conclusion MVD is an effective treatment for spinal cord compression caused by the PFIA, but further studies are necessary to help address technical difficulties and avoid complications.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. e0214351
Author(s):  
Takahiro Tanaka ◽  
Hidetoshi Murata ◽  
Ryohei Miyazaki ◽  
Tetsuya Yoshizumi ◽  
Mitsuru Sato ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Thomas E. Feasby ◽  
Gary G. Ferguson ◽  
J.C.E. Kaufmann

SUMMARY:This patient presented as a subacute progressive cervical myelopathy and the differential diagnosis included cervical spondylotic myelopathy and intramedullary mass. Microscopically, vascular lesions plus a patchy myelomalacia indicated a vasculitis. However, there was no suggestion of a generalized vasculitis at autopsy and the only supporting laboratory study was a raised erythrocyte sedimentation rate. It would seem that a vasculitis similar to polyarteritis nodosa or other collagen disease may be confined to the spinal cord.


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