Cervical Spine
A 55-year-old Japanese man presents with progressive difficulty walking, hand clumsiness, and numbness in all four limbs. Examination reveals hyperreflexia, positive Hoffman sign, and gait ataxia. CT scan shows a dense calcified mass posterior to the C3-C6 vertebral bodies continuous with the posterior aspect of the vertebral bodies. Regarding ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL):
Mark each as TRUE or FALSE
OPLL is heterotopic bone formation within the posterior longitudinal ligament causing spinal canal s...
The classification includes continuous (spans multiple vertebrae without interruption), segmental (b...
OPLL is most common in Caucasians; it affects the lumbar spine primarily; it is not genetic; it reso...
CT scan is the imaging modality of choice to characterize the ossified mass (MRI shows it poorly as ...
Surgical options include anterior corpectomy with resection of OPLL (technically demanding, higher c...
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Click T (True) or F (False) for each option