2001 Volume 50 Issue 1 Pages 22-25
Elderly patients (over 70) who underwent survey for the treatment of cervical spondylotic myelopathy were studied. Operations were performed on 96 patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy from 1994 through 1999 at the Hiroshima Red Cross and Atomic-Bomb Survivors Hospital. 24 patients, over 70 years old at the time of operation, were reviewed and compared with patients below 60 years old in this study. The severity of the clinical picture and the quality of operative results were graded according to the Japanese Orthopaedic Association scoring system. The compression level of the cervical spinal cord was evaluated from imaging (CTM and MRI) and physical examination. The operative results of patients over 70 were not significantly different from those of patients below 60. The compression level of the patients over 70 centered around C3/4, C4/5, but the compression level of the patients below 60 were centered around C5/6. Despite the advanced age of some patients, the operation increased the chance of recovery from the disease.
