Anterior microforaminotomy for treatment of cervical radiculopathy: part 1--disc-preserving "functional cervical disc surgery".
OBJECTIVE
Anterior cervical microforaminotomy was developed by the senior author (H-DJ) under the concept of "functional spine surgery which directly eliminates compressive pathological factors while preserving functional anatomic features. The surgical results are reported.


METHODS
Among approximately 400 patients who underwent anterior cervical microforaminotomy at the University of Pittsburgh between March 1993 and May 1999, 104 patients met the inclusion criteria for this study. Forty-five patients were men and 59 were women. Patient ages ranged from 26 to 74 years (median, 46 yr). Compressive pathological lesions included spondylotic spurs in 44 cases (42.3%), soft disc herniation in 54 cases (51.9%), and a combination of the two in 6 cases (5.8%).


RESULTS
Eighty-three patients (79.8%) experienced excellent results, 20 patients (19.2%) experienced good results, and 1 patient experienced fair results. No patient demonstrated a poor or unchanged outcome. All patients demonstrated excellent decompression in their postoperative magnetic resonance imaging scans, and all patients except one with discitis maintained their motion segments well, as indicated in postoperative dynamic roentgenograms. Two patients developed transient Horner's syndrome, one patient developed transient hemiparesis, and one patient developed discitis, resulting in spontaneous bone fusion.


CONCLUSIONS
Anterior microforaminotomy provided good or excellent outcomes, with minimal morbidities, for 98% of 104 patients with cervical discogenic radiculopathy. The functional anatomic features were well preserved for 99% of the patients.
Jho
Hae-Dong
HD
Center for Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery, Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. DrJho@DrJho.com
Kim
Woo-Kyung
WK
Kim
Myung-Hyun
MH
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007403:Intervertebral Disc / Q000503:physiopathology; D007405:Intervertebral Disc Displacement / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008866:Microsurgery / Q000009:adverse effects; D008875:Middle Aged; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects; D013128:Spinal Osteophytosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D016896:Treatment Outcome