Abstract
The authors operated on 2, 393 patients for cervical spine diseases from 1980 to 2000. About 80% were regressive and degenerative diseases including cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM), cervical disc herniation (CDH), ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL), cervical spodylotic radiculopathy (CSR), etc. 6.5% required multiple neck operations (MON), 4.2% were cervical trauma and 9.4% were comparatively rare diseases. We examined retrospectively the charactaristics of the latter that tend to delay the proper diagnosis. A majority of atlantoaxial subluxations with neck pain, except those associated with trauma, infection or cervical spine tumors, were identified relatively early. 61 patients with spinal cord tumor presented numbness and pain equally. Most patients were adults with an average of 44 years. The young patients with congenital diseases as Chiari malformation and os odontoideum suffered from various symptoms.
