[Surgical treatment of thoracic ossification of ligamentum flavum and therapeutic effects analysis].

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the surgical treatment of thoracic ossification of the ligamentum flavum (TOLF) and analysis of the therapeutic effects.

METHODS

Six patients with thoracic ossification of the ligamentum flavum were retrospectively studied from October 2006 to October 2009. All of the patients in this group were treated by en bloc hemi-articular process laminectomy. There were 4 males and 2 females, ranging in age from 45 to 66 years, averaged 55.2 years. The evaluate factors including the preoperative and postoperative JOA scores,and the function of the urinary bladder were analyzed.

RESULTS

All the 6 patients were followed after operation. The mean followed-up duration was 10.5 months, ranging from 2 to 18 months. According to JOA evaluation criteria, 4 patients got an excellent result, 1 good and 1 bad. The one patient with bad result had spinal cord compressed for too long time, and the T2-weight MRI showed nonreversible degeneration of spinal cord and combined with schizophrenia. The clinical symptoms improved with varying degrees.

CONCLUSION

The en bloc hemi-articular process laminectomy is an effective method for ossification of the thoracic ligamentum flavum. A thorough decompression and real-time protection of the spinal cord is the key to the success of surgery.