Diagnosis and medical and surgical management of cervical spondylotic myelopathy.
Cervical spondylotic myelopathy is a complex condition with subtle history and examination findings that mimic other conditions. Primary care physician assistants often are the first providers to evaluate these patients. This article describes cervical spondylotic myelopathy, its diagnosis and management, and recent data that offer strong evidence that patients who undergo surgical decompression show significant improvement over patients who are treated conservatively.
Elizabeth SaterenZoller practices neurosurgery at the Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato, Minn. Dominic Cannella is a consultant neurosurgeon in the Department of Neurosurgery at Immanuel St. Joseph Hospital, part of the Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato. Douglas Chyatte is a professor of neurosurgery at the Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato. Jeremy Fogelson is a neurologic surgeon and assistant professor at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Manish Sharma is a consultant in neurologic surgery at the Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato. The authors have disclosed no potential conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise.
Elizabeth
E
SaterenZoller
Dominic
D
Cannella
Douglas
D
Chyatte
Jeremy
J
Fogelson
Manish
M
Sharma
D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000601:surgery; D019299:Decompression, Surgical; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D011379:Prognosis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013118:Spinal Cord Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery*; D055009:Spondylosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery*