In multilevel posterior cervical instrumented fusions, extending the fusion across the cervico-thoracic junction at T1 or T2 (CTJ) has been associated with decreased rate of re-operation and pseudarthrosis but with longer surgical time and increased blood loss. The impact on patient reported outcomes (PROs) remains unclear. The primary objective was to determine whether extending the fusion through the CTJ influenced PROs at 3 and 12 months after surgery. Secondary objectives were to compare the number of patients reaching the minimally clinically important difference (MCID) for the PROs and mJOA, operative time duration, intra-operative blood loss (IOBL), length of stay (LOS), discharge disposition, adverse events (AEs), re-operation within 12 months of the surgery, and patient satisfaction. This is a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data from a multicenter observational cohort study of patients with degenerative cervical myelopathy. Patients who underwent a posterior instrumented fusion of 4 levels of greater (between C2-T2) between January 2015 and October 2020 with 12 months follow-up were included. PROS (NDI, EQ5D, SF-12 PCS and MCS, NRS arm and neck pain) and mJOA were compared using ANCOVA, adjusted for baseline differences. Patient demographics, comorbidities and surgical details were abstracted. Percentafe of patient reaching MCID for these outcomes was compared using chi-square test. Operative duration, IOBL, AEs, re-operation, discharge disposittion, LOS and satisfaction were compared using chi-square test for categorical variables and independent samples t-tests for continuous variables. A total of 206 patients were included in this study (105 patients not crossing the CTJ and 101 crossing the CTJ). Patients who underwent a construct extending through the CTJ were more likely to be female and had worse baseline EQ5D and NDI scores (p> 0.05). When adjusted for baseline difference, there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups for the PROs and mJOA at 3 and 12 months. Surgical duration was longer (p 0.05). Satisfaction with the surgery was high in both groups but significantly different at 12 months (80% versus 72%, p= 0.042 for the group not crossing the CTJ and the group crossing the CTJ, respectively). The percentage of patients reaching MCID for the NDI score was 55% in the non-crossing group versus 69% in the group extending through the CTJ (p= 0.06). Up to 12 months after the surgery, there was no statistically significant differences in PROs between posterior construct extended to or not extended to the upper thoracic spine. The adverse event profile did not differ significantly, but longer surgical time and blood loss were associated with construct extending across the CTJ

The ability to calculate quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) for degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) would enhance treatment decision making and facilitate economic analysis. QALYs are calculated using utilities, or health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) weights. An instrument designed for cervical myelopathy disease would increase the sensitivity and specificity of HRQoL assessments. The objective of this study is to develop a multi-attribute utility function for the modified Japanese Orthopedic Association (mJOA) Score. We recruited a sample of 760 adults from a market research panel. Using an online discrete choice experiment (DCE), participants rated 8 choice sets based on mJOA health states. A multi-attribute utility function was estimated using a mixed multinomial-logit regression model (MIXL). The sample was partitioned into a training set used for model fitting and validation set used for model evaluation. The regression model demonstrated good predictive performance on the validation set with an AUC of 0.81 (95% CI: 0.80-0.82)). The regression model was used to develop a utility scoring rubric for the mJOA. Regression results revealed that participants did not regard all mJOA domains as equally important. The rank order of importance was (in decreasing order): lower extremity motor function, upper extremity motor function, sphincter function, upper extremity sensation. This study provides a simple technique for converting the mJOA score to utilities and quantify the importance of mJOA domains. The ability to evaluate QALYs for DCM will facilitate economic analysis and patient counseling. Clinicians should use these findings in order to offer treatments that maximize function in the attributes viewed most important by patients