Myelopathy caused by soft cervical disc herniation : surgical results and prognostic factors.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to investigate the surgical results and prognostic factors for patients with soft cervical disc herniation with myelopathy.


METHODS
During the last 7 years, 26 patients with cervical discogenic myelopathy were undertaken anterior discectomy and fusion. Clinical and radiographic features were reviewed to evaluate the surgical results and prognostic factors. The clinical outcome was judged using two grading systems (Herkowitz's scale and Nurick's grade).


RESULTS
Male were predominant (4:1), and C5-6 was the most frequently involved level. Gait disturbance, variable degree of spasticity, discomfort in chest and abdomen, hand numbness were the most obvious signs. Magnetic resonance(MR) images showed that central disc herniation was revealed in 16 cases, and accompanying cord signal changes in 4. Postoperatively, 23 patients showed favorable results (excellent, good and fair) according to Herkowitz's scale.


CONCLUSIONS
Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion effectively reduced myelopathic symptoms due to soft cervical disc herniation. The authors assured that the shorter duration of clinical attention, the lesser the degree of myelopathy and better outcome in discogenic myelopathy.
Kim
Young-Jin
YJ
Department of Neurosurgery , Dankook University, College of Medicine, Cheonan, Korea.
Oh
Seong-Hoon
SH
Yi
Hyeong-Joong
HJ
Kim
Young-Soo
YS
Ko
Yong
Y
Oh
Suck Jun
SJ