• Blanka Adamova, Josef Bednarik, Tereza Andrasinova, Ivana Kovalova, Roman Kopacik, Michal Jabornik, Milos Kerkovsky, Barbora Jakubcova, and Jiri Jarkovsky.
• Department of Neurology, University Hospital and Masaryk University Brno, Jihlavska 20, 625 00, Brno, Czech Republic. badamova@fnbrno.cz.
• Eur Spine J. 2015 Dec 1; 24 (12): 2946-53.

PurposeThe aim of this prospective cross-sectional observational comparative study was to determine the prevalence of spondylotic cervical cord compression (SCCC) and symptomatic cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) in patients with symptomatic lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) in comparison with a general population sample and to seek to identify predictors for the development of CSM.MethodsA group of 78 patients with LSS (48 men, median age 66 years) was compared with a randomly selected age- and sex-matched group of 78 volunteers (38 men, median age 66 years). We evaluated magnetic resonance imaging findings from the cervical spine and neurological examination.ResultsThe presence of SCCC was demonstrated in 84.6% of patients with LSS, but also in 57.7% of a sample of volunteers randomly recruited from the general population. Clinically symptomatic CSM was found in 16.7% of LSS patients in comparison with 1.3% of volunteers (p = 0.001). Multivariable logistic regression proposed the Oswestry Disability Index of 43% or more as the only independent predictor of symptomatic CSM in LSS patients (OR 9.41, p = 0.008).ConclusionsThe presence of symptomatic LSS increases the risk of SCCC; the prevalence of SCCC is higher in patients with symptomatic LSS in comparison with the general population, with an evident predominance of more serious types of MRI-detected compression and a clinically symptomatic form (CSM). Symptomatic CSM is more likely in LSS patients with higher disability as assessed by the Oswestry Disability Index.

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