Adult cervical spine deformity is associated with decreased health-related quality of life, disability, and myelopathy. A number of radiographic parameters help to characterize cervical deformity and aid in the diagnosis and treatment. There are several etiologies for cervical spine deformity, the most common being iatrogenic. Additionally, spine surgery can accelerate adjacent segment degeneration which may lead to deformity. It is therefore important for all spine surgeons to be aware of the potential to cause iatrogenic cervical deformity. The aim of this review is to highlight concepts and techniques to prevent cervical deformity after spine surgery.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Impact of T1 Slope as a Predictor of Loss of Cervical Lordosis and Health-Related Quality of Life after Laminoplasty in Patients with Ossification of the Posterior Longitudinal Ligament : A Retrospective Cohort Study Ji-Ho Jung, Jong-Hoon Jeong, Jong-Hwan Hong, Moon-Soo Han, Jung-Kil Lee Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society.2026; 69(1): 124. CrossRef
Comparison of cervical alignment between electromagnetic and traction-based head positioning systems Jonathan N. Sembrano, Dustin J. Kress, Regan Carlson, Jason J. Haselhuhn, Jacqueline E. Wright, Paul Brian O. Soriano, Kari Odland World Neurosurgery: X.2026; 31: 100595. CrossRef
The Variability of the Cervicothoracic Inflection Point: A Cohort Analysis of the Multi-Ethnic Asymptomatic Normative Study (MEANS) Justin L. Reyes, Roy Miller, Matan Malka, Josephine Coury, Yong Shen, Natalia Czerwonka, Alexandra Dionne, Jean-Charles Le Huec, Stephane Bourret, Kazuhiro Hasegawa, Hee Kit Wong, Gabriel Liu, Hwee Weng Dennis Hey, Hend Riahi, Michael Kelly, Lawrence G. L Global Spine Journal.2025; 15(4): 2409. CrossRef
Commentary: Cervicothoracic Deformity in the Setting of Adhesive Arachnoiditis: An Operative Video Article Ranbir Ahluwalia, Harsh Jain, Scott L. Zuckerman Operative Neurosurgery.2025; 29(1): 158. CrossRef
Risk factors associated with distal junctional kyphosis and failure after surgical management of adult cervical deformity: a systematic review Davin C. Gong, Anthony N. Baumann, Zhaorui Wang, Omkar S. Anaspure, Muhammad Waheed, Evan J. Beck, Rakesh D. Patel, Ilyas S. Aleem European Spine Journal.2025; 34(8): 3430. CrossRef
Long-term loss of intervertebral disc height after posterior cervical surgery for ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament: a retrospective study with more than 3 years of follow-up Siyuan Qin, Ruomu Qu, Weili Zhao, Ruixin Yan, Yongye Chen, Feifei Zhou, Ning Lang Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research.2025;[Epub] CrossRef