Cervicothoracic Lordosis Can Influence Outcome After Posterior Cervical Spine Surgery

Area of Science:

• Spine surgery
• Orthopedics
• Neurosurgery

Background:

• Previous research linked cervical sagittal balance, specifically C2-C7 SVA, to quality of life improvements after surgery.
• Anterior translation parameters showed limited correlation with patient outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate cervicothoracic lordosis as a novel predictor of clinical success in posterior cervical spine surgery.
• To determine if this new parameter offers better correlation with quality of life than existing measures.

Main Methods:

• Patients with cervical degenerative disk disease undergoing posterior surgery were assessed.
• Cervicothoracic lordosis, C2-C7 SVA, Nurick Scale, SF-36, and NDI scores were measured pre- and post-operatively.
• Correlations between surgical outcomes and sagittal parameters were analyzed.

Main Results:

• Cervicothoracic lordosis demonstrated significant positive correlations with mental (MCS) and physical (PCS) components of SF-36, and a negative correlation with NDI.
• C2-C7 SVA showed negative correlations with MCS and PCS.
• Twenty-nine patients aged 27-78 underwent decompression, laminoplasty, or laminectomy with fusion.

Conclusions:

• Cervicothoracic lordosis is a significant predictor of improved quality of life after posterior cervical degenerative disk disease surgery.
• This new parameter offers a valuable metric for assessing surgical outcomes in this patient population.