Spondylosis is the most common disease to affect the cervical spine and its contents in the geriatric age group. It has been estimated that 75% of persons over the age of 50 have narrowing of the spinal canal or intervertebral foramina, and 50% of these cases are symptomatic.1 With advancing years the number with positive symptomatology increases until an incidence of 75% is reached in persons over the age of 65. The clinical manifestations are protean but, in essence, comprise syndromes representing nerve root irritation or compression, myelopathy, or a combination of both.2-6 To this may be added the signs of cerebral ischemia produced by spondylotic distortion of the vertebral artery during movement of the cervical spine.7
All anatomical and pathological studies have demonstrated a narrowing of the spinal canal or neural foramina by partial posterior displacement of the intervertebral disk with marginal lipping and the