{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T05:01:54Z","timestamp":1790139714107,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,25]],"date-time":"2020-11-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1606262400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medicina"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and objectives: Expandable cages are frequently used to reconstruct the anterior spinal column after a corpectomy. In this retrospective study, we evaluated the perioperative advantages and disadvantages of corpectomy reconstruction with an expandable cage. Materials and Methods: Eighty-six patients (45 male and 41 female patients, medium age of 61.3 years) were treated with an expandable titanium cage for a variety of indications from January 2012 to December 2019 and analyzed retrospectively. The mean follow-up was 30.7 months. Outcome was measured by clinical examination and visual analogue scale (VAS); myelopathy was classified according to the EMS (European Myelopathy Scale) and gait disturbances with the Nurick score. Radiographic analysis comprised measurement of fusion, subsidence and the C2\u2013C7 angle. Results: Indications included spinal canal stenosis with myelopathy (46 or 53.5%), metastasis (24 or 27.9%), spondylodiscitis (12 or 14%), and fracture (4 or 4.6%). In 39 patients (45.3%), additional dorsal stabilization (360\u00b0 fusion) was performed. In 13 patients, hardware failure occurred, and in 8 patients, adjacent segment disease occurred. Improvement of pain symptoms, myelopathy, and gait following surgery were statistically significant (p &lt; 0.05), with a medium preoperative VAS of 8, a postoperative score of 3.2, and medium EMS scores of 11.3 preoperatively vs. 14.3 postoperatively. Radiographic analysis showed successful fusion in 74 patients (86%). As shown in previous studies, correction of the C2\u2013C7 angle did not correlate with improvement of neurological symptoms. Conclusion: Our results show that expandable titanium cages are a safe and useful tool in anterior cervical corpectomies for providing adequate anterior column support and stability.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medicina56120642","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,25]],"date-time":"2020-11-25T08:59:15Z","timestamp":1606294755000},"page":"642","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":17,"title":["Application of an Expandable Cage for Reconstruction of the Cervical Spine in a Consecutive Series of Eighty-Six Patients"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"56","author":[{"given":"Mirza","family":"Pojskic","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, University of Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Benjamin","family":"Sa\u03b2","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, University of Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8216-9410","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Christopher","family":"Nimsky","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, University of Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany"},{"name":"Marburg Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (MCMBB), 35032 Marburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3661-9908","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Barbara","family":"Carl","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, University of Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany"},{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, Helios Dr. Horst Schmidt Kliniken, 65199 Wiesbaden, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"801","DOI":"10.1007\/s00701-013-1655-7","article-title":"Expandable titanium cages for anterior column cervical reconstruction and their effect on sagittal profile: A review of 48 cases","volume":"155","author":"Waschke","year":"2013","journal-title":"Acta Neurochir. 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