Abstract

With rapid advances in medical technology and progress in medicine during the last 27 years, severe disability or sustained neck-shoulder-arm pain secondary to cervical spondylosis can be detected much earlier. Excellent or good results of surgery can be achieved compared to the past, due mainly to advances in diagnostic imaging and surgical procedure.Through research into cervical spondylotic myelopathy, particularly the conditions combined with a narrow spinal canal, orthopaedic surgeons in Japan have revealed the key mechanism involved in myelopathy and the specific manifestation leading to early recognition of the affliction, the “myelopathy hand”, and have invented a canal-expansive laminoplasty. Extensive decompression of the impinged spinal cord with remarkable ill effects such as instability or adhesion was accomplished for the first time. Further study has been ongoing to clarify the pathomechanism of “spondylosis” through biomechanical and animal model studies.This volume consists of contributions by experts worldwide on the recent advances in the study of cervical spondylosis and will serve as a valuable reference for all researchers, surgeons and postgraduate students.