Arthritis, facets and ADR
Are there any patients out there who need either a fusion or ADR who do NOT have some level of arthritis in the facet joints?
I had one doctor say that mine were too bad to consider doing ADR, but when I called the surgeons in Germany that I am trying to see, they said that mine were very mild, and that many if not most patients have arthritis, if I understood them correctly.
I think Terry commented in one thread that if we went by North American standards, no one would be a candidate for ADR here.
How bad is too bad in North America? I think most of our doctors only want to deal with the 'ideal' case, so as not to ruin their records of success. Sorry if I sound jaded, but I have had so many negative comments from doctors here...
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C3/4-5/6- Mod. ant., severe posterior bulging w. nerve root compression. Sev. narrowing of spinal canal with cord compression.
L4/5/S1- Mod. narrowing, bulging disc, significant hypertrophy of flava lig.
Highly allergic to all metals.
NEW: 3/16/2010: Successful surgery in Brazil w. Dr. Pimenta; Nuvasive NeoDisc at C5/6, and XLIF & ALIF at L4/5/S1 w. PEEK cages. No rods, screws, plates. Non-metal lumbar ADR not available at present time, so went with fusion.
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