title: Curative effect and mechanism of radiofrequency ablation nucleoplasty in the treatment of cervical vertigo.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aims to investigate the curative effects and mechanism of radiofrequency ablation nucleoplasty in the treatment of cervical vertigo.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 27 patients diagnosed with cervical vertigo from January 2012 to October 2014 received treatment of radiofrequency ablation nucleoplasty. The narrow-side vertebral artery diameters were examined by using Philips 1.5-T body dual-gradient MRI system. The haemodynamic parameters were detected by using transcranial Doppler sonography. Both of the vertebral artery diameters and haemodynamic parameters were recorded and compared before and after treatment. The curative effects in early post-operative application were evaluated according to the Nagashima standards.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Radiofrequency ablation nucleoplasty was performed in a total of 59 cervical discs in 27 patients. The average operation time was 42.7 min, and the symptoms of 92.6% patients were alleviated after radiofrequency ablation nucleoplasty post-operation application. There was no significant difference in the narrow-side vertebral artery diameters before and after treatment in both Group A (p = 0.12) and Group B (p = 0.48); however, the blood flow velocity was significantly higher than that before treatment in both Group A (p = 0.01) and Group B (p = 0.03), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Radiofrequency ablation nucleoplasty improves the blood flow in the narrow-side vertebral artery and illustrates the therapeutic effect on cervical vertigo in patients who have no direct compression of the vertebral artery. Advances in knowledge: Radiofrequency intradiscal nucleoplasty can be used as a minimally invasive procedure for treating cervical vertigo.
authors.affiliation: 1 Centre of Spine Surgery, First People's Hospital of Shunde, Foshan, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Hai-Dong
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: 2 Centre of Ultrasound, First People's Hospital of Shunde, Foshan, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Xin-Mei
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: 1 Centre of Spine Surgery, First People's Hospital of Shunde, Foshan, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Ming-Guang
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: 1 Centre of Spine Surgery, First People's Hospital of Shunde, Foshan, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: 1 Centre of Spine Surgery, First People's Hospital of Shunde, Foshan, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: 1 Centre of Spine Surgery, First People's Hospital of Shunde, Foshan, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Qing-Jun
authors.initials: QJ
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: 1 Centre of Spine Surgery, First People's Hospital of Shunde, Foshan, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Yu-Ning
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: 1 Centre of Spine Surgery, First People's Hospital of Shunde, Foshan, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Ruo-Bin
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000379:methods*; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007403:Intervertebral Disc / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D017585:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial; D014711:Vertebral Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014717:Vertigo / Q000601:surgery*