Anterior Decompression for Ossification of the Posterior Longitudinal Ligament of the Cervical Spine

The Value of Intraoperative Three Dimensional Fluoroscopy in Anterior Decompressive Surgery of the Cervical Spine

“…The lateral edge is mostly reached when epidural fat, the nerve root exit zone, or lateral epidural veins are visible. However, the recommended transverse extent of decompression varies between 14 -20 mm [1,6,13] . To avoid incomplete cervical decompression, in particular a failure of suffi cient bone removal, different intraoperative imaging techniques have already been used by others, such as intraoperative ultrasound (IUS).…”

Surgery for dural ossification in association with cervical ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament via an anterior approach

“…There are two surgical procedures for the treatment of OPLL: (1) direct removal of the ossified mass via an anterior approach, or (2) decompression in which the techniques of laminectomy or laminoplasty are used, via a posterior approach. [1,2,9,17] Although the decision should be based on patient age, severity of symptom, type of OPLL, and the surgeon's preference, anterior decompression of OPLL generally achieves more satisfactory results than posterior decompression in cases of one-or two-level OPLL. [2,[18][19][20] However, CSF leakage occurs during 4.5-32% of multilevel anterior cervical corpectomies with fusion performed for OPLL.…”

“…Ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) is one of the major diseases in which cervical myelopathy or radiculopathy develops. [1][2][3][4][5] Various operative procedures using either an anterior approach or a posterior approach have been used for treating this disease. Anterior approach is es-sentially performed in cases of one-or two-level segmental OPLL or hypertrophied posterior longitudinal ligament (PLL) with or without associated intervertebral herniated discs, while multilevel laminectomy or laminoplasty is indicated for continuous or mixed-type OPLL.…”

Cervical Myelopathy Associated with Degenerative Spine Disease and Ossification of the Posterior Longitudinal Ligament

“…4,35 It is the treatment of choice in segmental OPLL confined to one or two levels. 36,37 Because by definition the posterior longitudinal ligament is calcified and frequently adherent to the dura, this procedure can be more difficult.…”