J Korean Soc Spine Surg.  2007 Mar;14(1):52-56. 10.4184/jkss.2007.14.1.52.

Fracture of Ossification of the Yellow Ligament Causing Thoracic Myelopathy: A Case Report

• Ha KY
• Kim YH
• Jee WH

• KMID: 1527143
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4184/jkss.2007.14.1.52

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-yearold 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.

Keyword

Thoracic myelopathy; Yellow ligament; Ossification; Fracture

MeSH Terms

Decompression, Surgical
Diagnosis
Humans
Ligaments*
Male
Rare Diseases
Spinal Cord Diseases*
Spine

Figure

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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.

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  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.

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  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.

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  Fig. 4 Histopathologic examination of the excised fragment shows lamellated and woven bone. The enchondral ossification was also identified. (Hematoxylin-Eosin, ×40)

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