Background: In a patient with achondroplasia, it is rare to encounter thoracic cord compression due to both spinal stenosis and ossification of the yellow ligament (OYL).
Case description: A 33-year-old achondroplastic female presented with a progressive spastic paraparesis attributed to thoracic stenosis combined with T10-T11 OYL. Following a laminectomy, the patient demonstrated a marked recovery of neurological function.
Conclusion: This case and 12 others from the literature demonstrated that achondroplastic patients who present with myelopathy secondary to thoracic stenosis and OYL can be readily diagnosed with MR/CT and successfully treated utilizing decompressive laminectomies with/without fusions (i.e., for those crossing the thoracolumbar junction).
Keywords: Achondroplasia; Laminectomy; Lumbar canal stenosis; Ossification of the ligamentum flavum.
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