Study Design Prospective cohort study Objective To assess the correlation between central motor conduction time (CMCT) and various subjective and objective clinical assessment measures in patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) undergoing decompressive surgery Summary of Background Data CSM can cause a spectrum of neurological deficits across individuals. Subjective clinical assessments of disease severity may lack the sensitivity of objective tests. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) provides objective electrophysiologic data on the integrity of the corticospinal tracts, which may be useful for monitoring disease progression or neurological improvement after surgery. Methods Patients undergoing surgical decompression for CSM performed subjective and objective testing before surgery and at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery. Subjective measures included modified Japanese Orthopaedic Assessment (mJOA), Neck Disability Index (NDI), Nurick grade, and visual analog scale (VAS) score. Objective measures included CMCT as measured using TMS, the 10-meter walk test (10MWT), the 9-hole peg task (9HPT), and grip and release test (GRT). Primary outcome was the correlation between CMCT and subjective or objective measures at preoperative and postoperative time points. Secondary outcome was the correlation between preoperative CMCT and performance in subjective or objective testing after surgical intervention. Results Improvement in both subjective and objective measures was observed after surgery. CMCT correlated with other objective measures (10MWT, 9HPT, and GRT) both at baseline and after decompressive surgery in these 17 patients with CSM. Patients with high baseline CMCTs were associated with poor performance on the 10MWT, 9HPT, and GRT. mJOA correlated with CMCT at baseline but not after surgical intervention. CMCT was not associated with other subjective measures, such as NDI, Nurick grade, and VAS, at preoperative or postoperative time points. Conclusion CMCT as measured by TMS is a responsive objective assessment of CSM. It can be used to monitor disease severity and neurological function before and after surgical intervention. Prolonged baseline CMCT may be associated with worse surgical outcomes.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.