Cervical foraminal area and intervertebral height changes after titanium ring cage placement: Preliminary results

Radiologic Assessment of Subsidence in Stand-Alone Cervical Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) Cage

“…Cages filledup with autologous material, allograft or bone substitute would resist disc space collapse and should not migrate until fusion occurred, allowing biological bone healing in an incompressible spacer. In clinical practice 6,8,13) , distraction with restoration of disc height in degenerative spine increased intervertebral foraminal volume and contributed to nerve root decompression as measured experimentally. But, in vitro study 10,21) , simulated repeated neck movements caused not only an increase of the flexibility but also subsidence of the implants into the adjacent vertebrae.…”

“…The authors, however, believe that long term follow-up greater than 8 weeks may be clinically necessary for ACDF with Solis TM cages. Colpan et al 8) reported that cervical intervertebral height and cervical foraminal area significantly increased after cervical ring cage placement but subsidence during the followup period negatively affected foraminal area. However, in overall, there was a relative increase of foraminal area and intervertebral height when compared with preoperative values.…”

Use of an empty, plasmapore-covered titanium cage for interbody fusion after anterior cervical microdiscectomy

“…[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] The cages used in most of the studies published recently are filled either with artificial bone, bony material gained from the removal of osteophytes or bone marrow taken from the iliac crest. 3,[9][10][11][12][13] The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of an empty Plasmapore Ò (CeSpace Ò , Aesculap AG, Tuttlingen, Germany)-coated titanium cage (PCTC), in patients undergoing ACDF based on the assessment of clinical and functional outcome as well as radiological findings. The PCTC used in this study consisted of a titanium cage covered with titanium powder, which may lead to a larger contact surface for bone invasion.…”

Efficacy of Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion on Adjacent Disc Height

“…However, use of autograft requires a second surgical procedure (iliac crest harvest); with risks inherent in any surgical procedure and potentially including prolonged donor-site pain and drainage, infection, hematomas, nerve injury, and iliac crest fracture or deformity. 5,6 The advantages of fusion are stability of the cervical spine and preservation of the physiological lordosis. 1 Currently, different types of fixation systems are available for use in the treatment of cervical disc pathologies.…”

“…2,3 Their principal advantages are the restoration of the height of the intervertebral space, solid fusion with restoration of cervical lordosis, lower incidence of postoperative complications (implant mobilization), and pseudarthrosis with respect to bone grafting. 6 In addition, the importance of pseudarthrosis for the clinical outcome after spinal surgery is still highly controversial. 2 The success of this procedure relies on a thorough decompression and development of a solid osseous fusion.…”