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Review
. 2020 Mar;6(1):340-350.
doi: 10.21037/jss.2020.01.12.

Cervical spine pathology and treatment: a global overview

Muhammad Abdul-Aziz Waheed  1 , Sazid Hasan  2 , Lee A Tan  3 , Aju Bosco  4 , Rui Reinas  5 , Paula Valerie Ter Wengel  6 , Hwee Weng Dennis Hey  7 , Ilyas S Aleem  8
Affiliations
Review

Cervical spine pathology and treatment: a global overview

Muhammad Abdul-Aziz Waheed et al. J Spine Surg. 2020 Mar.

Abstract

Cervical spine pathology is becoming increasingly prevalent with an aging world population and is associated with significant morbidity, affecting all areas of the world. This review was undertaken to provide a global perspective on cervical spine pathology, including epidemiology, burden of disease, access to care, and plan of care in both developed and developing low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We found that epidemiology, access to care, plan of care, and health outcomes were relatively similar between nations with similar economies. However, these aspects change dramatically when comparing developing nations to LMICs, with LMICs displaying substantial barriers to care and subsequently higher rates of morbidity and mortality. There is currently a need for large-scale, global, prospective multicenter studies that analyze not only the epidemiology and treatment of cervical spine pathology, but also consider patient outcomes.

Keywords: Cervical spine pathology; epidemiology; global overview; low- and middle-income countries (LMICs); spine surgery.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: The series “Advanced Techniques in Complex Cervical Spine Surgery” was commissioned by the editorial office without any funding or sponsorship. LAT serves as the unpaid editorial board member of Journal of Spine Surgery from Jan. 2019 to Jan. 2021. LAT and ISA served as the unpaid Guest Editors of the series. The other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

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