Acute quadriparesis caused by calcification of the entire cervical ligamentum flavum in a white female--report of an unusual case and a brief review of the literature: case report.

STUDY DESIGN

Case report.

OBJECTIVES

To describe an extremely unusual case of acute quadriparesis in a white female caused by calcification of the ligamentum flavum (LF) from C1 to T2, and to review briefly the pertinent literature.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA

Diseases characterized by abnormal calcium deposition on the spinal ligaments have an unclear etiology. The overwhelming majority of these cases has been reported in people of Asian descent and has a predilection for the thoracic spine. Multilevel involvement of the cervical LF in white patients is exceptionally rare. To our knowledge, complete calcification of the entire cervical LF has not been previously reported in the literature.

METHODS

The history, physical examination, and radiographic studies of a 64-year-old white female with a history of scleroderma are described. The patient presented with neck pain and acute quadriparesis caused by spinal cord impingement by calcified cervical LF from C1 to T2. The patient underwent emergent C3-C7 laminectomy and C2-C7 posterior spinal fusion.

RESULTS

Operative intervention resulted in marked neurologic improvement and relief from neck pain. Histopathologic examination of the calcified LF showed that the deposits consisted of hydroxyapatite crystals exclusively with no heterotopic bone. However, kyphosis did develop in the patient after laminectomy.

CONCLUSION

To our knowledge, this unusual case of complete calcification of the entire cervical LF has not previously been described. Multilevel laminectomy and fusion can improve neurologic function but may result in kyphosis.