Cervical spine surgery in patients with diastrophic dysplasia: Case report with long-term follow-up

Cervical kyphosis in diastrophic dysplasia (DTD) is a very dangerous deformity which may lead to compression of neural structures resulting in tetraplegia or even. Treatment of this deformity is usually surgical, but no long-term follow-up studies are presented in the literature. Authors present a case of two children with DTD who underwent anterior corpectomy due to severe cervical kyphosis. The kyphotic deformity was corrected and the normal spinal canal width was restored. The effects of the correction remained stable for respectively 6 and 10 years of the follow-up period. The unique follow-up confirms that this type of intervention leads to an effective and long lasting results. Significant cervical kyphosis in patients suffering from DTD may be treated surgically using anterior approach even in young children with a favorable and lasting results.