title: The Role of Gait Analysis in the Evaluation of Patients with Cervical Myelopathy: A Literature Review Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Gait analysis represents one of the newest methodologies used in the clinical evaluation of patients with cervical myelopathy (CM).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe the role of gait analysis in the clinical evaluation of patients with CM, as well as its potential role in the evaluation of the functional outcome of any surgical intervention.
  
  
  METHODS
  A literature review was performed in the PubMed, OVID, and Google Scholar medical databases, from January 1995 to August 2016, using the terms "analysis," "anterior," "cervical myelopathy," "gait," "posterior," and "surgery." Clinical series comparing the gait patterns of patients with CM with healthy controls, as well as series evaluating gait and walk changes before and after surgical decompression, were reviewed. Case studies were excluded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nine prospective and 3 retrospective studies were found. Most of the retrieved studies showed the presence of characteristic, abnormal gait patterns among patients with CM, consisting of decreased gait speed, cadence, step length, stride length, and single-limb support time. In addition, patients with CM routinely present increased step and stride time, double-limb support time, and step width, and they have altered knee and ankle joint range of motion, compared with healthy controls. Moreover, gait and walk analysis may provide accurate functional assessment of the functional outcome of patients with CM undergoing surgical decompression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Gait analysis may well be a valuable and objective tool along with other parameters in the evaluation of functionality in patients with CM, as well as in the assessment of the outcome of any surgical intervention in these patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, Kaleida Health, Buffalo, New York, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Larisa, Greece. Electronic address: isiasios@ubns.com.
authors.forename: Ioannis D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Siasios
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, School of Health and Welfare, Central Greece University of Applied Sciences, Lamia, Greece.
authors.forename: Savvas L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Spanos
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, School of Health and Welfare, Central Greece University of Applied Sciences, Lamia, Greece.
authors.forename: Asimakis K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Kanellopoulos
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Larisa, Greece.
authors.forename: Aggeliki
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fotiadou
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, Kaleida Health, Buffalo, New York, USA.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pollina
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, Kaleida Health, Buffalo, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Vassilios G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Dimopoulos
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Larisa, Greece.
authors.forename: Kostas N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Fountas
mesh_terms: D002574:Cervical Vertebrae; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D020233:Gait Disorders, Neurologic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013118:Spinal Cord Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*
keywords: Cervical myelopathy; Gait analysis; Nurick score; SF-12/SF-36; Surgery; mJOA