Don't Overlook Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy in Patients with Upper and Lower Extremity Symptoms

Cervical myelopathy usually is caused by degenerative cervical spinal stenosis. Identification of this disorder often is delayed because clinicians haven't considered it in patients with upper and lower extremity neurological symptoms that initially seem unrelated; neck pain might or might not be prominent.

To identify findings on neurological examination that might suggest this condition, researchers retrospectively studied 229 symptomatic adults with cervical degenerative myelopathy — confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) — and who had improved after surgery. Their preoperative exam findings were compared with those of 807 asymptomatic controls with no myelopathy on cervical MRI who had undergone detailed neurological examinations …