Surgical outcome of thoracic myelopathy

PubMed, the Internet portal of biomedical and life sciences literature, indexed an interesting article, entitled Surgical outcome of thoracic myelopathy secondary to ossification of ligamentum flavum. ( Joint Bone Spine. 2007 Aug 3). Authors are Park BC Min WK Oh CV et al., from the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Republic of Korea. Thoracic myelopathy secondary to OLF is a rare disease described almost exclusively in Japanese patientsThis study is to describe the clinical and radiologic aspects, as well as surgical outcomes in a group of South Korean patients.Diagnosis in each case was established using CT and MRI. Walking difficulties were the most common presenting complaint. Spastic paraparesis associated with sphincter dysfunction was the most common finding on initial examination. Decompressive laminectomy with excision of the OLF resulted in significant improvement in motor weakness and gait. . When neurologic symptoms develop, decompressive laminectomy should be done immediately. To access the full abstract of the article, click here.