Surgery for thoracic myelopathy caused by ossification of the ligamentum flavum

Microendoscopic posterior decompression for the treatment of thoracic myelopathy caused by ossification of the ligamentum flavum: a technical report

“…Some studies concluded the association has an influence on the surgical outcome [6,18], but other studies reported the opposite conclusion [4, 10, 13, 14,16,19]. Eight out of 9 cases in our report revealed asymptomatic and/or asymptomatic other spinal stenosis; however, the only one patient underwent additional operation during follow-up period (case 5: 24 months later).…”

Single-level bilateral facet joint hypertrophy causing thoracic spinal canal stenosis

“…Ossification of the ligamentum flavum, a closely related pathology which also produces thoracic myelopathy, is not uncommon and appears to be prevalent in the Japanese population. [6][7][8][9][10] Barnett et al 1 reported six patients with degenerative hypertrophy of the thoracic facet joints in the absence of generalised bone or joint disorders. The four oldest patients, ages ranging from 31 to 79, had no history of antecedent trauma.…”

“…1-3 Reports of stab injuries at the craniocervical junction are rare. [4][5][6] Because of the anatomy of this area, the penetrating weapon is deflected by the occipital squama into the atlanto-occipital or atlantoaxial interspace in the craniocervical junction. If the blade penetrates the dura mater, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tracks through the dural opening, resulting in a pseudomeningocele.…”

Ossification of the ligamentum flavum in a Caucasian man

“…The most recent study of 13 patients undergoing decompressive laminectomy for OLF showed that 7 patients had postoperative improvement of 1 grade on the Frankel scale; the condition of the remaining 6 did not worsen. 18 Thus, we believe that wide laminectomies and partial facetectomies (which afford safer and more complete decompression), along with instrumented stabilization, may be a valid treatment option, especially given the risk of kyphotic deformity seen in noninstrumented laminectomies alone (50 vs 2.8%). 28…”