Prevalence and Predictive Factors of Asymptomatic Spondylotic Cervical Spinal Stenosis in Patients with Symptomatic Lumbar Spinal Stenosis

The Prevalence of Asymptomatic Cervical Spinal Cord Compression in Individuals Presenting With Symptomatic Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: A Meta-Analysis

STUDY DESIGN

Systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of asymptomatic cervical spinal cord compression (CSCC) in individuals with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS).

METHODS

A systematic electronic search was conducted in Medline, EMBASE, Scopus, and Web of Science without language restriction, with no starting date limit to June 8, 2023, to define the prevalence of asymptomatic CSCC in symptomatic LSS patients. Asymptomatic CSCC was defined based on radiographic studies. All types of studies were included in the review. Meta-analysis was performed on the reported prevalence of asymptomatic CSCC in LSS.

RESULTS

The database search yielded 10,272 articles. After a full-text review, five studies were included in the final review, comprising a total of 1043 cases. Two studies had a low risk for bias, two moderate, and one estimated to be high risk. The range of prevalence of asymptomatic CSCC in LSS in the five included studies was between 24% and 61%. Meta-analysis on the reported prevalence of asymptomatic CSCC patients with symptomatic LSS demonstrated that the random pooled prevalence was 35% (95% CI: 23 to 48).

CONCLUSIONS

Asymptomatic CSCC appears to occur in a high number of patients, with this study noting its presence in one-third of patients with LSS. Based on these findings, we strongly recommend that spine surgeons exercise particular caution during the positioning of patients who are undergoing surgery for lumbar stenosis. Furthermore, it is imperative to monitor individuals with symptomatic LSS closely for any potential signs of emerging myelopathy.

Clinical Application of Evoked Potentials in the Operation of Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy with Different Imaging

Objective

To observe the effects of improvement of cervical spondylotic myelopathy with different imaging signals after cortical somatosensory-evoked potentials on the functional recovery of postoperative patients and the effect of surgery.

Methods

A total of 60 patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy who were hospitalized in our hospital from January 2020 to December 2020 were selected and divided into a case group (30 cases) with MRI-indicated changes in intramedullary signals and a control group (30 cases) with MRI-indicated spinal cord changes. Intragroup and intergroup control studies were conducted through general observation indexes, neurological evaluation indexes, imaging, and evoked potential observation indexes. Somatosensory-evoked potentials were performed before operation, 1 week after operation, and 24 weeks after operation, and the JOA score of each patient was obtained before operation, 1 week after operation, and 24 weeks after operation.

Results

The JOA score of 1 week after operation of the case group is (16.25 ± 1.54) and the control group is (11.89 ± 1.63), and there is a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05). The JOA score of the case group 24 weeks after operation is (25.27 ± 1.03) and the control group is (13.28 ± 1.03), and the difference is statistically significant (P < 0.05). The improvement rate of 1 week after operation and 24 weeks after operation was statistically significant between the two groups (P < 0.05). The case group improvement rate is (70.5 ± 8.72)% and the control group is (40.5 ± 9.81)%, and the difference is statistically significant between the two groups (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

The preoperative intramedullary signal changes can be used as an effective index for patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy to use somatosensory-evoked potentials to assess the prognosis of patients after surgery.