Adjacent segment degenerative disease: is it due to disease progression or a fusion-associated phenomenon?
Although, fusion per se can accelerate the severity of adjacent level degeneration, no significant difference was observed between adjacent and non-adjacent segments in terms of the incidence of symptomatic disease. The authors conclude that adjacent segment disease is more a result of the natural history of cervical spondylosis than the presence of fusion.
No clinical variables, isolated or combined into a model, accurately identify patients with pathologic radiography findings. Continued use of chest radiography as a diagnostic intervention in the initial episode of childhood bronchospasm is recommended.