[Evaluation and treatment of cervical spondylotic myelopathy by subtotal corporectomy without grafting]

These experimental and clinical studies were performed to evaluate the efficiency of a new surgical procedure in the treatment of spondylotic myelopathy, the subtotal corpectomy without fusion. In a first step, the biomechanic analysis of eleven human cadaveric cervical spines, before and after corpectomy without grafting, demonstrated that this procedure does not reduce significantly the cervical stiffness. In a second step, we prospectively evaluate 77 patients operated between 1990 and 1998. The average follow-up period was 53 months (range: 10 to 111 mo). We conclude that this procedure is a safe and efficient treatment for cervical spondylotic myelopathy. No fusion is required regardless of the number of levels, providing there is no preoperative instability. We showed that clinical myelopathy severity and age are significant predictors of the outcome.