Journal List > J Korean Soc Spine Surg > v.14(1) > 1035791

Ha, Kim, and Jee: Fracture of Ossification of the Yellow Ligament Causing Thoracic Myelopathy - A Case Report -

Abstract

Ossification of the yellow ligament (OYL) is a rare disease that causes myeloradiculopathy at the thoracic spine. The advances in radiographic imaging techniques have made a diagnosis of this pathological entity relatively simple. Surgical decompression and excision of the OYL is the treatment of choice if there are neurological complications from the OYL. We describe a 50-year-old male with thoracic myelopathy caused by a fractured OYL at T10-11, and suggest possible mechanism of the fracture of the OYL at the thoracolumbar spine.

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Fig. 1.
A plain radiograph of the thoracic spine shows multiple spurs formation with narrowed disc spaces predominantly on the right side.
jkss-14-52f1.tif
Fig. 2.
CT scan shows multiple ossification of the yellow ligament at T10-11. The axial scan shows a broken and displaced fragment of OYL at the same level.
jkss-14-52f2.tif
Fig. 3.
Magnetic resonances imaging of the thoracic spine shows a round extradural mass at the T10~11 level. The lesions are inho-mogenously hypointense signal on the T1-weighted image (A) and more hypointense signal on the T2-weighted image (B, C). In addition, signal change in the spinal cord was revealed in the T2-weighted image.
jkss-14-52f3.tif
Fig. 4
Histopathologic examination of the excised fragment shows lamellated and woven bone. The enchondral ossification was also identified. (Hematoxylin-Eosin, ×40)
jkss-14-52f4.tif
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