Clinical outcomes of nonoperatively managed degenerative cervical myelopathy: an ambispective longitudinal cohort study in 117 patients.

Objective: Degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) is among the most common pathologies affecting the spinal cord but its natural history is poorly characterized. The purpose of this study was to investigate functional outcomes in patients with DCM who were managed nonoperatively as well as the utility of quantitative clinical measures and MRI to detect deterioration.

Methods: Patients with newly diagnosed DCM or recurrent myelopathic symptoms after previous surgery who were initially managed nonoperatively were included.

Quantitative Assessment of Gait Characteristics in Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy: A Prospective Clinical Study.

It is challenging to discriminate the early presentation of Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy (DCM) as well as sensitively and accurately distinguishing between mild, moderate, and severe levels of impairment. As gait dysfunction is one of the cardinal symptoms of DCM, we hypothesized that spatiotemporal gait parameters, including the enhanced gait variability index (eGVI), could be used to sensitively discriminate between different severities of DCM. A total of 153 patients recently diagnosed with DCM were recruited and stratified on the basis of DCM severity grades, as measured using the modified Japanese Orthopedic Association (mJOA) scale.