Tang Jessica A, Scheer Justin K, Smith Justin S, Deviren Vedat, Bess Shay, Hart Robert A, Lafage Virginie, Shaffrey Christopher I, Schwab Frank, Ames Christopher P
*Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California; ‡University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, San Diego, California; §Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California; ¶Rocky Mountain Scoliosis and Spine Center, Denver, Colorado; ‖Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon; #Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases, New York, New York; **Department of Neurosurgery, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia.
Neurosurgery. 2015 Mar;76 Suppl 1:S14-21; discussion S21. doi: 10.1227/01.neu.0000462074.66077.2b.
BACKGROUND: Positive spinal regional and global sagittal malalignment has been repeatedly shown to correlate with pain and disability in thoracolumbar fusion. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship between regional cervical sagittal alignment and postoperative outcomes for patients receiving multilevel cervical posterior fusion. METHODS: From 2006 to 2010, 113 patients received multilevel posterior cervical fusion for cervical stenosis, myelopathy, and kyphosis. Radiographic measurements made at intermediate follow-up included the following: (1) C1-C2 lordosis, (2) C2-C7 lordosis, (3) C2-C7 sagittal vertical axis (C2-C7 SVA; distance between C2 plumb line and C7), (4) center of gravity of head SVA (CGH-C7 SVA), and (5) C1-C7 SVA. Health-related quality-of-life measures included neck disability index (NDI), visual analog pain scale, and SF-36 physical component scores. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were calculated between pairs of radiographic measures and health-related quality-of-life scores. RESULTS: Both C2-C7 SVA and CGH-C7 SVA negatively correlated with SF-36 physical component scores (r =-0.43, P< .001 and r =-0.36, P = .005, respectively). C2-C7 SVA positively correlated with NDI scores (r = 0.20, P = .036). C2-C7 SVA positively correlated with C1-C2 lordosis (r = 0.33, P = .001). For significant correlations between C2-C7 SVA and NDI scores, regression models predicted a threshold C2-C7 SVA value of approximately 40 mm, beyond which correlations were most significant. CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrate that, similar to the thoracolumbar spine, the severity of disability increases with positive sagittal malalignment following surgical reconstruction.
Bioengineering (Basel). 2025-2-20
Global Spine J. 2025-2-18