Lordotic alignment and posterior migration of the spinal cord following en bloc open-door laminoplasty for cervical myelopathy: a magnetic resonance imaging study.

Abstract

We investigated lordotic alignment and posterior migration of the spinal cord following en bloc open-door laminoplasty for cervical myelopathy. Fifty-five patients (32 men and 23 women) were studied, with an average follow-up of 2.4 years. Radiological examination included evaluation of lordosis of the cervical spine and spinal cord, degree of enlargement of bony spinal canal, and the magnitude of posterior cord migration. We also correlated these changes with neurological improvement. Postoperatively, there was an average of 5% loss of cervical spine lordosis (P > 0.01) on radiographs and 12% reduction in the lordotic alignment of the spinal cord (P > 0.05) on magnetic resonance imaging. Postoperatively, the size of the bony spinal canal increased by 48%. Posterior cord migration showed a significant correlation with the preoperative cervical spine and spinal cord lordosis (P < 0.05). Thirty-seven (67%) patients with neurological improvement exceeding 50% showed significant posterior cord migration following laminoplasty compared with those demonstrating less than 50% improvement (P = 0.01). Our results suggest that a significant neurological improvement is associated with posterior cord migration after cervical laminoplasty.