[Symptoms and pathological anatomy of the degenerative cervical spine]

Clinical symptoms and patho-anatomic changes in cervical myelopathy due to spondylotic changes are described. The leading symptoms are numbness and clumsiness of upper and lower extremity, mostly combined with gait disturbances. Muscle wasting primarily on the upper extremity leads to the myelopathic hand. Cervical myelopathy can be classified into five main groups: 1. Spastic tetraparesis with numbness and hyperreflexivity of upper and lower extremity. The majority of patients present with the myelopathic hand. 2. Spastic paraparesis with lesion below C6. 3. Spastic tetraparesis, mild or moderate, with deltoid muscle paresis. 4. Amyotrophic myelopathic hand with mild long tract signs. 5. Central cord syndrome due to cervical spondylosis combined with trauma. From the therapeutic aspect, conservative treatment is often unsuccessful. It is important to relieve pressure on the spinal cord, and decompressive procedures, especially posterior laminoplasty techniques, are required. Earlier surgery provides better results.