INTRODUCTION Focal ossification of the ligamentum flavum (OLF) is a rare cause of thoracic myelopathy. The lower thoracic spine is most frequently affected and the patients present initially with posterior column disturbances followed by progressively increasing spastic paraparesis. The pathogenesis of OLF has not been conclusively established. MATERIALS AND METHODS Five patients with thoraci...

Ossification of ligamentum flavum (LF) is a pathological condition that causes neurological symptoms and usually occurs in the thoracic spine and less frequently in the cervical spine. Symptomatology usually involves occipital headache in the early stage, neck pain and later sensory disturbances of upper and lower extremities, gait disturbance, restricted cervical movement and tetraparesis. Her...

A typical vertebra consists of a vertebral body anteriorly and a neural arch posteriorly. The neural arch has pedicles laterally and laminae posteriorly with transverse processes arising from the pedico-laminar junction. A spinous process arises posteriorly from the junction of the hemilaminae. These bony elements house the spinal cord and Cauda Equina in conjunction with the intervertebral dis...