Do intramedullary spinal cord changes in signal intensity on MRI affect surgical opportunity and approach for cervical myelopathydue to ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament?

This report has been verified by one or more authors of the original publication.

56 patients with cervical myelopathy, due to ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL), were randomized to receive either anterior decompression and fusion or posterior laminectomy. It was found that both the hyperintensity on T2-weighted imaging and hypointensity on T1-weighted imaging had similar clinical symptom scores. In addition, it was found that damage to the spinal cord is evident regardless of the treatment; however, it was also found that anterior decompression is better for treating cervical myelopathy.