title: Surgical treatment for ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament of the cervical spine.
abstract: The results of surgical management of ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) of the cervical spine consisting of either anterior or posterior surgical decompression of the spinal cord and/or nerve roots were evaluated in 75 patients. The OPLL was continuous (COPLL) in 37 patients, segmental (SOPLL) in 29, mixed COPLL and SOPLL (MOPLL) in five, and circumscribed disk type (DOPLL) in four. Fourteen of the patients with COPLL, 27 with SOPLL, three with MOPLL, and all four with DOPLL were treated via the anterior approach with vertebrectomy and discectomy with anterior fusion. The remaining patients were treated by posterior laminoplasty or laminectomy. The overall mean improvement in the neurosurgical cervical spine scale (NCSS) score after surgery was 78.0% in those treated with anterior decompression and 46.1% in those treated with posterior decompression. The NCSS score in the latter group decreased during the follow-up period, from 10.4 to 9.7 points, whereas that in the anterior decompression group increased, from 12.9 to 13.0.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Miyazaki Medical College, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kawano
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Handa
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ishii
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oku
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kubota
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D017586:Diskectomy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007796:Laminectomy; D017846:Longitudinal Ligaments / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008866:Microsurgery; D008875:Middle Aged; D009408:Nerve Compression Syndromes / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011782:Quadriplegia / Q000209:etiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013117:Spinal Cord Compression / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D013126:Spinal Nerve Roots / Q000601:surgery