title: Osteotomy of the cervical spine in ankylosing spondylitis.
abstract: Fifteen patients with ankylosing spondylitis who had developed a severe flexion deformity of the cervical spine which restricted their field of vision to their feet, were treated by an extension osteotomy at the C7/T1 level. The operation was performed under general anaesthesia with the patient in the prone position and wearing a halo-jacket. Three had internal fixation using a Luque rectangle and wiring. Their mean age was 48 years. Before operation the mean cervical kyphosis was 23 degrees; this was corrected to a mean of 31 degrees of lordosis, a mean correction of 54 degrees. All the patients were able to see straight ahead. One patient with normal neurology soon after operation became quadriparetic after one week; two others had unilateral palsy of the C8 root, which improved. There was subluxation at the site of osteotomy in four patients, and two of them developed a pseudarthrosis which required an anterior fusion.
authors.affiliation: Princess Margaret Rose Orthopaedic Hospital, Edinburgh, Scotland.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: McMaster
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000768:Anesthesia, General; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009989:Orthotic Devices; D010027:Osteotomy / Q000379:methods*; D011182:Postoperative Care / Q000379:methods; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D011300:Preoperative Care / Q000379:methods; D016684:Prone Position; D011859:Radiography; D013167:Spondylitis, Ankylosing / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*