title: Cervical foraminal area and intervertebral height changes after titanium ring cage placement: preliminary results.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effect of titanium ring cage implantation on cervical foraminal area and intervertebral height.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-two patients with single level cervical disc herniation were enrolled in this study. All patients underwent a standard anterior cervical discectomy followed by titanium ring cage implantation. Radiographs were used for evaluation of the cervical foraminal area and intervertebral height in the pre- and postoperative periods.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean intervertebral heights were 0.7 +/- 0.1 cm (preoperative), 1.1 +/- 0.2 cm (early postoperative) and 0.9 +/- 0.2 (final measurement). Increase in intervertebral height at final follow-up was 0.2+/-0.1 cm (22.6+/-8.5%). Mean cervical foraminal areas were 0.4+/-0.1 cm2 (preoperative), 0.5 +/- 0.2 cm2 (early postoperative) and 0.5 +/- 0.1 cm2 (final measurement). Increase in cervical foraminal area at the final follow-up was 0.1 +/- 0.1 cm2.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study demonstrates that cervical intervertebral height and cervical foraminal area significantly increased after cervical ring cage placement but subsidence during the follow-up period negatively affects foraminal area. However, overall, there was a relative increase of foraminal area and intervertebral height when compared with preoperative values. Long-term follow-up is required to further assess the subsidence rate.
authors.affiliation: SSK Ankara Education and Research Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, Ankara, Turkey. colpan@iit.edu
authors.forename: Mustafa Efkan
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Colpan
authors.forename: Ayhan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Attar
authors.forename: Zeki
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sekerci
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tuna
authors.forename: Nihat
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Egemen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001860:Bone Plates; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007405:Intervertebral Disc Displacement / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009068:Movement; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures; D011187:Posture; D019919:Prosthesis Implantation; D011859:Radiography; D014025:Titanium
chemical_list: D014025:Titanium