@@ Cervical spondylopathy, also known as cervical syndrome, is a commonly encountered disease in the middle-aged and elderly people. This disease mostly results from the retrograde affection of the cervical intervertebral disc and hyperosteogeny of the cervical vertebrae. This hyperplastic substance may stimulate and give rise to oppression to the surrounding spinal cord, nerve roots, blood vessels and sympathetic nerves, resulting in a series of symptoms as numbness, pain, etc. in the neck, shoulder and the upper limbs. The cervical vertebra of the human spine is smallest in the size, weakest in the strength, higher in the motor range and frequency, and bigger in the bearing of per unit area. Along with the increasing of people's age and the accumulated aftereffect of chronic and acute injury, the pulpiform nucleus of the cervical intervertebral disc presents retrograde affection, dehydration, bulge and rupture of the fibrous ring, narrowing of the intervertebral space, and reduction in the stability of cervical vertebrae due to injury and slackening of intervertebral ligaments to stretch and to induce compression upon periosteum. All these changes may lead to break of blood vessels to cause bleeding and hematoma. With the organization of hematoma and calcium salt deposit, osteophyte is formed at last. When the protruded intervertebral disc and hyperplastic osteophyte stimulate and oppress the surrounding spinal nerve root, vertebral artery or spinal cord, the resultant injury, aseptic inflammation, reactions after renovation, etc. will generate a series of clinical symptoms of cervical spondylopathy. In Western medicine, there are five types of cervical spondylopathy including stiff-neck type, nerve root type, spinal cord type, vertebral artery type and sympathetic nerve type. The stiff-neck type, nerve root type and vertebral artery type will be introduced in this article.
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