title: Comparison of long terms follow up results in patients with cervical disk disease treated with anterior PEEK cage implantation and without it in Rasoul Akram Hospital.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Anterior interbody fusion of the cervical spine have become the gold standard for treating spinal diseases, hence the aim of this study was to compare long term follow up results in patients with cervical disk disease treated with anterior PEEK cage implantation and without it in anterior approach.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospectively 63 patients with known cervical discogenic disorders who went under surgery with and without cage implantation were enrolled. The neurological examination and neurologic function were assessed by using the Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) scoring system and neurological cervical spine scale (NCSS) before and 8 years after surgery in each patient and at the end all complications were recorded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the first group, there were 15 males and 14 females (mean age: 49±10 years) and in the second group there were 27 male and 7 female (mean age: 47±9 years). The NCSS score was significantly different between two groups after surgery (p = 0.035) but there was no significant difference before surgery (p = 0.163). No statistical significance difference was also observed in JOA score and complications before and after procedure, but JOA post surgery score between two groups had significant difference (p = 0.047).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In conclusion, present study showed that PEEK cage implantation is a highly useful alternative to the conventional treatment methods.
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, Rasoul Akram Hospital, Tehran University of Medical sciences, Tehran, Iran. r_mollahoseini@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mollahoseini
authors.forename: Ashkan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khajoo
authors.forename: Zeynab
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sharifian
authors.forename: Mir Abolfazl
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Motiei
keywords: Anterior cervical fusion; Cervical disk diseases; Long term follow up; PEEK cage