Cervical Spondylosis

Cervical spondylosis refers to common agerelated changes in the area of the spine at the back of the neck. With age, the vertebrae (thecomponent bones of the spine) gradually form bone spurs, and their shockabsorbing disks slowly shrink. These changes can alter thealignment and stability of the spine. They may go unnoticed, or they may produce problems related to pressure on the spine andassociated nerves and blood vessels.

Causes and symptoms: As people age, shrinkage of the vertebral disks prompts the vertebrae to form osteophytes to stabilize the back bone. However, theposition and alignment of the disks and vertebrae may shift despite the osteophytes. Symptoms may arise from problems with one ormore disks or vertebrae. Osteophyte formation and other changes do not necessarily lead to symptoms, but after age 50, half of the population experiencesoccasional neck pain and stiffness.

STATISTICS: SF-36 is reliable and has moderate responsiveness for evaluating patients with CSM, with MCID at 5.52 for the PCS and at 3.43 for the MCS. The preoperative QOL of the CSM patients was severely impaired compared with that of the normal population. Postoperatively, each SF-36 domain improved to a variable degree. During the early stage of recovery the mJOA score improvements correlated with SF-36?s physical component domains, whereas during the later stages the improvements were associated with the mental component domains.