Sustained results at seven years with cervical disc replacement

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Seven-year data for Medtronic’s cervical disc replacement device Prestige indicate that the disc is associated with maintained clinical improvements and a lower rate of additional surgical procedures compared with anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF). The data were presented at the annual meeting of the Cervical Spine Research Society (4–7 December, Los Angeles, USA).

According to a company press release, of the 541 patients enrolled in a study that compared clinical outcomes with Prestige with ACDF, data were available for 395 patients (212 Prestige patients and 183 fusion patients) at the seven-year follow-up point. The press release reports that the significant improvements in pain and functional outcomes achieved by 1.5 months in both groups were sustained at seven years. The rate of the primary study endpoint—patient overall success—was significantly higher in the Prestige group as compared to fusion (72.6% vs. 60.0%; p=0.010). Additionally, the rate of maintenance or improvement in neurological status was significantly higher in the Prestige group (88.2% versus 79.7%; p=0.011), neck pain was significantly lower (mean score of 13.1 vs. 19.4 on a scale of 0-100; p=0.004), and the rate of additional surgeries at the index level was significantly lower (4.8% vs. 13.7%; p< 0.001).


“In the past several years, the long-term implications of cervical disc replacement have been the subject of much debate,” said Vincent Traynelis, director, Neurosurgery Spine Service, and vice chairperson and professor, Department of Neurosurgery, at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, USA. “The seven-year results of this study show that patients receiving cervical disc replacement maintained their clinical improvements and had a significantly lower rate of additional surgical procedures compared to fusion.”