title: Surgical decompression for cervical spondylotic myelopathy: correlation between operative outcomes and MRI of the spinal cord.
abstract: Forty-two patients who underwent decompressive surgery for cervical spondylotic myelopathy were studied. The pre- and postoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings and the Japanese Orthopedic Association score were analyzed to evaluate whether the different appearances of intramedullary high-signal intensity on T2-weighted MRI are related to the surgical prognosis. Magnetic resonance imaging signal intensities were classified as type 0 if no intramedullary high-signal intensity on T2-weighted images was noted, type 1 if high-signal intensity involved only one segment, and type 2 if high-signal intensity extended over two segments. Statistical analyses of the recovery ratio showed that type 0 and type 1 intramedullary high-signal intensity indicates better prognosis than type 2.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, University of Crete, Heracleion, Crete.
authors.forename: Charalambos A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Papadopoulos
authors.forename: Pavlos
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Katonis
authors.forename: Panayiotis J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Papagelopoulos
authors.forename: Spyridon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karampekios
authors.forename: Alexander G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Hadjipavlou
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001860:Bone Plates; D016025:Bone Transplantation; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019637:Orthopedic Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D011379:Prognosis; D013117:Spinal Cord Compression / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D013128:Spinal Osteophytosis / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome