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Original Article

Cervical Spondylotic Amyotrophy: Case Series and Review of the Literature

Neurospine 2019;16(3):579-588.
Published online: September 30, 2019

Spinal Disorders Center, Fujieda Heisei Memorial Hospital, Fujieda, Japan

Corresponding Author Toshiyuki Takahashi https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0289-4418 Spinal Disorders Center, Fujieda Heisei Memorial Hospital, 123-1 Mizukami, Fujieda 426-8662, Japan Tel: +81-54-643-1230 Fax: +81-54-643-1289 E-mail: heisei.t-taka@ny.tokai.or.jp
• Received: June 17, 2019   • Revised: August 13, 2019   • Accepted: September 14, 2019

Copyright © 2019 by the Korean Spinal Neurosurgery Society

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Citations

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    Journal of Pain Research.2022; Volume 15: 3483.     CrossRef
  • Neuralgic Amyotrophy: Its Importance in Orthopedics Practice
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  • Atypical Proximal Cervical Spondylotic Amyotrophy: Case Report Demonstrating Clinical/Imaging Discrepancy


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Cervical Spondylotic Amyotrophy: Case Series and Review of the Literature
Neurospine. 2019;16(3):579-588.   Published online September 30, 2019
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Cervical Spondylotic Amyotrophy: Case Series and Review of the Literature
Image Image
Fig. 1. (A, B) Muscle atrophy in a patient with proximal type cervical spondylotic amyotrophy. Muscle atrophy was more remarkable on the affected side (A, arrows) than the normal side (B). (C, D) Finger drop finger sign and atrophy in the intrinsic hand muscles in a patient with distal type cervical spondylotic amyotrophy.
Fig. 2. (A) Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrating compression of the unilateral ventral cord and root by degenerative change of the cervical spine (arrow). (B) Computed tomography myelography showing compression of the ventral nerve root due to an osteospur from the origin of the ventral rootlet to the entrance of the cervical foramen (arrowheads).
Cervical Spondylotic Amyotrophy: Case Series and Review of the Literature
Variable Value
Age (yr), mean (range) 59.7 (30–80)
Sex, male:female 27:6
Mean duration of illness (mo) 7.1
Diabetes mellitus 1
Smoking 16
Body mass index (kg/m2) 23.3
Severe pain at onset 11
Types of impared muscle
 Proximal 18
 Distal 14
 Combined 1
Peoperative MMT grade 2.6
Symptom side, R:L:B 20:11:2
Level of stenosis 2.8
Presence of HIA on T2-weighted MRI 13
Cevical kyphosis of > 5° 7
Surgical procedure
 ACDF or ACCF 18
 Anterior foraminotomy 3
 Laminectomy/laminoplasty 5
  With foraminotomy 3
  With posterior fixation 2
 Anterior and posterior combined 2
Surgical outcome
 Excellent 12
 Good 13
 Fair 8
 Poor 0
Variable Proximal type (n = 18) Distal type (n = 14)
Mean age (yr) 63.8 55.2
Sex, male:female 14:4 12:2
Mean duration of illness (mo) 6.8 7.1
Diabetes mellitus 1 0
Smoking 10 6
Body mass index (kg/m2) 23.1 23.6
Pain at onset 4 7
Peoperative MMT grade 2.5 2.8
Symptom side, R:L:B 11:5:2 8:6:0
Level of stenosis 3.1 2.4
Presence of HIA on T2-weighted MRI 7 5
Cevical kyphosis of > 5° 3 3
Surgical procedure
 ACDF or ACCF 8 10
 Anterior foraminotomy 1 2
 Laminectomy/laminoplasty 5 0
  With foraminotomy 1 2
  With posterior fixation 1 0
 Anterior and posterior combined 2 0
Surgical outcome
 Excellent 6 6
 Good 7 5
 Fair 5 3
 Poor 0 0
Variable Favorable outcome (n = 25) Unfavorable outcome (n = 8) p-value
Mean age (yr) 56.5 69.5 0.013
Sex, male:female 20:5 7:1 0.63
Mean duration of illness (mo) 6.2 9.9 0.52
Diabetes mellitus 1 0 > 0.99
Smoking 10 6 0.12
Body mass index (kg/m2) 23.0 24.5 0.21
Pain at onset 10 1 0.22
Types of impared muscle
 Proximal 13 5 0.78
 Distal 11 3
 Combined 1
Peoperative MMT grade 2.7 2.5 0.45
Level of stenosis 2.8 2.9 0.87
Presence of HIA on T2-weighted MRI 9 4 0.68
Cevical kyphosis of > 5° 6 1 0.65
Surgical procedure
 Anterior 16 5 0.66
 Posterior 8 2
 Combined 1 1
Study No. of cases Age (yr) Sex Duration (mo) Type Preop MMT Postop MMT Follow-up (mo) Operation Favorable outcome, n (%)
Matsunaga et al., [9] 1993 12* 57.6 M: 11, F: 1 NA P: 11, D: 1 NA NA NA LP+FR: 7 8 (89)
AD: 2
Shinomiya et al., [10] 1994 10 51.7 M: 8, F: 2 NA P 2.6 4.7 52 ADF 10 (100)
Ebara et al., [3] 1988 15* NA NA NA D NA NA 12–24 LP: 6 6 (86)
ADF: 1
Kaneko et al., [8] 2004 6 69.5 M: 2, F: 4 NA D NA NA NA LP: 6 4 (67)
Fujiwara et al., [4] 2006 32 59.8 M: 31, F: 1 11 P: 24, D: 8 NA NA 78 LP: 10 P: 22 (92)
LP+FR: 22 D: 3 (38)
Srinivasa Rao and Rajshekhar, [11] 2009 7 46.4 M: 7, F: 0 8.3 D NA NA 46.5 ADF 4 (67)
Uchida et al., [16] 2009 51 60.1 M: 43, F: 8 12.6 P: 37, D: 14 NA NA 31 LP+FR: 12 P: 23 (62)
AD: 39 D: 5 (36)
Inui et al., [7] 2011 90* 54.5 M: 76, F: 14 NA P: 55, D: 24, C: 6 NA NA 60 LP: 5 28 (82)
LP+FR: 22
ADF: 7
Imajo et al., [6] 2012 24 61.2 M: 22, F: 2 18.8 P NA NA 50 LP: 2 14 (58)
LP+FR: 11
ADF: 11
Tauchi et al., [13] 2013 59 59.4 M: 56, F: 3 11.4 P: 41, D: 18 2.3 NA 32 LP (± FR): 45 41 (70)
ADF: 8
PF: 6
Takebayashi et al., [12] 2013 28 50.6 M: 25, F: 3 NA P: 19, D: 9 NA NA 43.5 LM+FR 27 (96)
Iizuka et al., [5] 2014 47* 61.5 M: 38, F: 9 30.0 P: 35, D: 12 1.7 NA 18.0 LP: 14 15 (83)
ADF: 4
Tauchi et al., [14] 2014 17 56.3 M: 16, F: 1 11.8 D 2.4 3.4 35.2 LP: 17 9 (53)
LP+FR: 1
ADF: 3
LP+FR+PF: 2
Tauchi et al., [15] 2015 41 60.5 M: 39, F: 2 12.0 P 2.2 NA 31.3 LP (± FR): 22 31 (76)
ADF: 5
PF (+LP or LM): 4
Present study 33 59.7 M: 27, F: 6 7.00 P: 18, D: 14, C: 1 2.7 3.8 12 LP (± FR): 8 25 (76)
AD: 3, ADF: 18
PF (+LP or LM): 2
Combined AP: 2
Authors Age (yr) Sex DM Pain Duration Type Preop MMT Long tract signs Preop CMAP Levels of stenosis Compression site HIA on T2 MRI LIA on T1 MRI Preop kyphosis Operation
Fujiwara et al., [4] 2006 Distal Decreased*
Uchida et al., [16] 2009 NS Longer Distal NS NS Medial NS
Inui et al., [7] 2011 NS NS NS NS NS NS NS
Imajo et al., [6] 2012 Decreased*
Tauchi et al., [13] 2013 NS Longer Distal Severe NS NS NS NS NS
Iizuka et al., [5] 2014 NS NS NS NS NS NS Positive NS NS NS
Tauchi et al., [13] 2015 NS Longer Severe NS NS NS NS NS NS
Present study Older NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS
Table 1. Demographic and clinical data of all patients with CSA (n=33)

CSA, cervical spondylotic amyotrophy; MMT, manual muscle test; R, right; L, left; B, bilateral; HIA, high-intensity area; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; ACDF, anterior cervical discectomy and fusion; ACCF, anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion.

Table 2. Demographic and clinical data of patients with proximal type and distal type CSA

CSA, cervical spondylotic amyotrophy; MMT, manual muscle test; R, right; L, left; B, bilateral; HIA, high-intensity area; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; ACDF, anterior cervical discectomy and fusion; ACCF, anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion.

Table 3. Demographic and clinical data of patients with favorable and unfavorable outcomes

MMT, manual muscle test; HIA, high-intensity area; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging.

Table 4. Summary of clinical outcomes after surgery for CSA: literature review

CSA, cervical spondylotic amyotrophy; Duration, duration of illness; Preop, preoperative; Postop, postoperative; MMT, manual muscle test; NA, not available; P, proximal; D, distal; LP, laminoplasty; LM, laminectomy; FR, foraminotomy; AD, anterior decompression; ADF, anterior decompression and fusion; PF, posterior fusion; AP, anteroposterior.

Including conservative cases.

Favorable outcome after operation.

Grip strength was slightly improved.

Table 5. Predictive factors of postoperative unfavorable results in patients with CSA

CSA, cervical spondylotic amyotrophy; DM, diabetes mellitus; Duration, duration of illness; Preop, preoperative; Postop, postoperative; MMT, manual muscle test; CMAP, compound muscle action potential; HIA, high-intensity area; LIA, low-intensity area; NS, not significant; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging.

Lower preoperative CMAP on affected side than normal side.

Multivariate analysis.