Evaluation of the Ossification of the Cervical Posterior Longitudinal
Ligament Utilizing X-Ray, CT and MR Imaging.
Cervical ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament is a common disease among the
elderly population of East Asian countries, especially Japan, Korea, and China.
The incidence of OPLL is 2.4% in the Asian population, and 0.16% in the non-Asian population.
OPLL is twice as common in men as it is in women, and symptomatic OPLL
such as cervical myelopathy and/or radiculopathy often at times manifests
itself in the 5th and 6th decades of life.
Cervical OPLL can be misdiagnosed in lateral radiography or magnetic
resonance imaging. In the present study, the diagnostic accuracy of cervical
OPLL in lateral radiography and MRI is compared to computed tomography.
All patients acquired cervical X-ray, CT and MRI scan and underwent
posterior decompression surgery after diagnosis.
There were 53 males and 7 females.
All patients had pain in the upper extremities,
numbness, and paresthesia due to myelopathy with
or without radiculopathy.
First, a lateral radiograph was obtained and regarded a high-density
structure along the posterior aspect of vertebral bodies
as corresponding to a diagnosis of OPLL.
In addition, at C6 and C7, low accuracy was observed
with MRI and X-rays. Lower levels of cervical spine such as C5,
C6 and C7 present a lot of motion and would be associated with
more severe osteoarthritis than the upper level of cervical spine.
It interferes with the accuracy of X-rays. Regarding cervical
OPLL treatment, cervical laminoplasty has become the standard
technique for patients with myelopathy.
Hori et al9 reported that young patients with continuous
or mixed-type OPLL and C3 ossification had a risk of progression
in OPLL thickness following surgery.
Orthop Res Traumatol Open J. 2017; 2(1): 35-39. doi: 10.17140/ORTOJ-2-109
