title: Axial transverse tomography of the cervical spine narrowed by ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament.
abstract: Ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament in the cervical region is generally regarded as a rare disease, though a Japanese series of 185 cases has been reported. The main symptoms arise from a myelopathy, the degree of which varies from moderate to severe, due to stenosis of the spinal canal. In order to clarify the relationship between the severity of symptoms and the cross-sectional area of ossification, axial transverse tomography of the cervical spine has been carried out on twenty-six patients at intervals of 5 millimetres over the full extent of the ossification. In this way the cross-sectional areas of the ossified tissue and of the spinal canal were calculated. The former varied from a minimum of 0.8 to a maximum of 1.8 square centimetres. In cases of severe myelopathy the ossification was mainly at the fourth and fifth cervical levels and the stenosis ration exceeded 30 per cent.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008022:Ligaments; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009999:Ossification, Heterotopic / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology; D014056:Tomography, X-Ray