Images in Clinical Medicine
Cervical-Disk Herniation
N Engl J Med 1998; 338:1358May 7, 1998
- Article
Figure 1 A 46-year-old woman with an unsteady gait, muscle weakness, and tingling and numbness in both hands was found to have brisk deep-tendon jerks and an extensor plantar response on the left. T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging of the cervical spine (Panel A) showed multiple disk herniations from C3 to C7 (open arrows) that were most prominent at the junction of C4 and C5 (solid arrow). In contrast, no herniations were visible below C7. A cervical myelogram with the patient's head in extension (Panel B) showed a complete block of the flow of contrast medium at C4–C5 because of a large ventral defect (arrows). With the patient under general anesthesia, the C4–C5 disk was completely removed with use of an anterior cervical approach and an operating microscope. A bone graft obtained from a bone bank was interposed between C4 and C5 to promote solid fusion between the disks. Four months later, the patient had no residual neuromuscular signs or symptoms and had returned to work full time.
Azam Ansari, M.D.
Gaylan Rockswold, M.D., Ph.D.
Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Minneapolis, MN 55407- Citing Articles (2)
Citing Articles
1
Takashi Shimokawa, Keiichi Akita, Tatsuo Sato, Fei Ru, Shuang-Qin Yi, Shigenori Tanaka. (2004) Penetration of muscles by branches of the mandibular nerve: A possible cause of neuropathy. Clinical Anatomy 17:1, 2-5
CrossRef2
(1998) Cervical-Disk Herniation. New England Journal of Medicine 339:12, 852-853
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