Postoperative prognosis of Brown-Séquard-type myelopathy in patients with cervical lesions

Postoperative prognosis of the hemihypalgesia in patients with Brown-Séquard-type myelopathy (BSM) caused by cervical lesions is of great interest to surgeons. However, there are very few reports discussing the postoperative prognosis of BSM.

We evaluated the prognosis of BSM using the criteria of the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score in 16 (seven ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament [OPLL], 5 cervical spondylosis [CS], and 4 disc herniation patients) out of 233 surgically treated patients with cervical diseases. The mean follow-up duration was 2 years and 11 months.

After surgery, none of these patients showed complete resolution of hemihypalgesia, although the most rostral level of hemihypalgesia moved in a caudal direction in 13 patients (81%), whose recovery ratios of JOA score were significantly better than those of hemihypalgesia-level-persisted patients. In our BSM series, OPLL occurred most frequently and the anterior element compressing the spinal cord existed most frequently in the central area of the vertebra (44%). Postoperative improvement in the motor function of the legs in the disc herniation group was significantly better than in the OPLL and CS groups (p < 0.05, respectively). There were no significant differences in the functional prognosis between the BSM and non-BSM patient groups.

BSM patients can expect almost the same functional outcome as non-BSM patients, with the exception of the disappearance of hemihypalgesia.