Association Between Deep Posterior Cervical Paraspinal Muscle Morphology and Clinical Features in Patients With Cervical Ossification of the Posterior Longitudinal Ligament. Issue 1 (January 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Doi, Toru; Ohtomo, Nozomu; Oguchi, Fumihiko; Tozawa, Keiichiro; Nakarai, Hiroyuki; Nakajima, Koji; Sakamoto, Ryuji; Okamoto, Naoki; Nakamoto, Hideki; Kato, So; Taniguchi, Yuki; Matsubayashi, Yoshitaka; Oka, Hiroyuki; Matsudaira, Ko; Tanaka, Sakae; Oshima, Yasushi
• Is Part Of: Global spine journal. Volume 13:Issue 1(2023)
• Page Start: 8
• Page End: 16
• Publication Date: 2023-01
• Subjects: cervical -- fatty infiltration -- multifidus -- Neck Disability Index -- neck pain -- ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament -- paraspinal muscle -- semispinalis cervicis; Spine -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Spine -- Diseases -- Treatment -- Periodicals; Spine -- Abnormalities -- Periodicals; Spine -- Surgery -- Periodicals; 616.73
• DOI: 10.1177/2192568221989655
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2192-5682

Abstract

Study Design: A retrospective observational study. Objective: To clarify the association of the paraspinal muscle area and composition with clinical features in patients with cervical ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL). Methods: Consecutive patients with cervical OPLL who underwent cervical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before surgery were reviewed. The cross-sectional area (CSA) and fatty infiltration ratio (FI%) of deep posterior cervical paraspinal muscles (multifidus [MF] and semispinalis cervicis [SCer]) were examined. We assessed the association of paraspinal muscle measurements with the clinical characteristics and clinical outcomes, such as Neck Disability Index (NDI) score. Moreover, we divided the patients into 2 groups according to the extent of the ossified lesion (segmental and localized [OPLL-SL] and continuous and mixed [OPLL-CM] groups) and compared these variables between the 2 groups. Results: 49 patients with cervical OPLL were enrolled in this study. The FI% of the paraspinal muscles was significantly associated with the number of vertebrae ( ρ = 0.283, p = 0.049) or maximum occupancy ratio of OPLL ( ρ = 0.397, p = 0.005). The comparative study results indicated that the NDI score was significantly worse (OPLL-SL, 22.9 ± 13.7 vs. OPLL-CM, 34.4 ± 13.7) and FI% of SCer higher (OPLL-SL, 9.1 ± 1.7% vs. OPLL-CM, 11.1 ± 3.7%) in the OPLL-CM group than those in the OPLL-SL group. Conclusions: Our results suggest that OPLL severity may be associated with fatty infiltration of deep posterior cervical paraspinal muscles, which could affect neck disability in patients with cervical OPLL.