Cervical Myelopathy in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Involvement of the cervical spine is common in rheumatoid arthritis. Clinical presentation can be variable, and symptoms may be due to neck pain or compressive myeloradiculopathy. We discuss the pathology, grading systems, clinical presentation, indications for surgery and surgical management of cer...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: N. Mukerji, N. V. Todd
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hindawi Limited 2011-01-01
Series:Neurology Research International
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/153628
Description
Summary:Involvement of the cervical spine is common in rheumatoid arthritis. Clinical presentation can be variable, and symptoms may be due to neck pain or compressive myeloradiculopathy. We discuss the pathology, grading systems, clinical presentation, indications for surgery and surgical management of cervical myelopathy related to rheumatoid arthritis in this paper. We describe our surgical technique and results. We recommend early consultation for surgical management when involvement of the cervical spine is suspected in rheumatoid arthritis. Even patients with advanced cervical myelopathy should be discussed for surgical treatment, since in our experience improvement in function after surgery is common.
ISSN:2090-1852
2090-1860