Comparison of Three Anterior Techniques in the Surgical Treatment of Three-Level Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy with Intramedullary T2-Weighted Increased Signal Intensity.

Objective: To compare the clinical and radiologic outcomes of 3 anterior surgical techniques for the treatment of 3-level cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) and the evolution of intramedullary T2-weighted increased signal intensity (ISI).

Methods: A total of 98 consecutive patients (61 males, 37 females) with 3-level CSM who underwent anterior cervical surgery between January 2006 and January 2016 were retrospectively enrolled. Based on different anterior reconstructive techniques, the patients were divided into 3 groups: anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF), anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion (ACCF), and hybrid decompression and fusion (HDF) groups. The Japanese Orthopaedic Association score and its recovery rate were used to evaluate the clinical outcomes. The cervical alignment and range of motion were used to assess radiologic outcomes. In addition, the signal change ratio and length of ISI were used to measure the ISI.

Results: No statistical differences in preoperative factors were found among the 3 groups (P > 0.05). Although the HDF group had intermediate surgery time and blood loss compared with other groups (P < 0.05), it achieved greater postoperative Japanese Orthopaedic Association score and recovery rate than other groups (P < 0.05). The postoperative C2-C7 lordotic angle and postoperative range of motion in the HDF group were similar to that in the ACDF group (P > 0.05), both greater than that in the ACCF group (P < 0.05). The incidence of complications in the HDF group was close to the ACDF group (P > 0.05), and both groups were lower than that in the ACCF group (P < 0.05). In addition, the postoperative signal change ratio in the HDF group was lower than in other groups (P < 0.05). The postoperative length of ISI in the HDF group was similar to the ACCF group (P > 0.05), which was both shorter than that in the ACDF group (P < 0.05).

Conclusions: For patients with 3-level CSM with ISI on T2-weighted MRI, HDF can be considered as the optimal technique that achieves better clinical and radiologic outcomes than the ACDF or ACCF procedure. HDF also has a better postoperative regression of ISI compared with the ACDF or ACCF procedure, which may potentially be an important indicator for improving surgical outcomes.