Outcomes after Cervical Duraplasty for Monomelic Amyotrophy (Hirayama Disease): Results of a Case-Control Study of 60 Patients.

 The optimal management and the role of surgery in monomelic amyotrophy, also known as Hirayama disease (HD), remain controversial. In the largest series of patients with HD managed by cervical duraplasty (CD), this study compares the outcomes between conservative and surgical management.  A retrospective case-control study was performed on 60 patients with HD.

Deep flexor sarcopenia as a predictor of poor functional outcome after anterior cervical discectomy in patients with myelopathy.

Background: Paraspinal muscle morphometry has been recognized to be a prognostic factor across various surgical conditions, but its utility in predicting disease-specific outcomes in spine surgery remains under-explored.

Methods: A prospective cohort study was performed on 45 consecutive patients undergoing anterior cervical discectomy (ACD) for single-level, symptomatic cervical degenerative disc disease causing radiculomyelopathy or myelopathy. Previously described predictors of outcome such as age, gender, smoking, comorbidities, duration of symptoms, preoperative Nurick grade, extent of cord compression, and signal intensity change in the cord were recorded.

A points-based algorithm for prognosticating clinical outcome of Chiari malformation Type I with syringomyelia: results from a predictive model analysis of 82 surgically managed adult patients.

OBJECTIVE Although various predictors of postoperative outcome have been previously identified in patients with Chiari malformation Type I (CMI) with syringomyelia, there is no known algorithm for predicting a multifactorial outcome measure in this widely studied disorder. Using one of the largest preoperative variable arrays used so far in CMI research, the authors attempted to generate a formula for predicting postoperative outcome. METHODS Data from the clinical records of 82 symptomatic adult patients with CMI and altered hindbrain CSF flow who were managed with foramen magnum decompression, C-1 laminectomy, and duraplasty over an 8-year period were collected and analyzed.