Good day to everybody,
I am a 53year old male from Germany who had a M6c implanted (C5/C6) on 17-01-14 in Germany Markgröningen.
My operation was done as an emergency after 40 hours of severe pain, loss of strength and a numbness sensation in my right hand arm after a normal jogging session. Due to the emergency there was no time to get information prior to the operation - neither about the operation itself nor about the available prostheses.
All I knew was that the operation had to be done immediately to avoid permanent damage to the pinched nerve and that a prosthesis would be implanted instead of conducting a fusion.
Now, after the operation, I searched the net for information on the procedure and what actually is a M6c prosthesis. The more I read the more new questions are coming up.
My intention with this posting is to share my questions and some information I found in the net and to be able to discuss the issues openly without generating uncertainty.
How good is the M6c in real life use?
There does not seem to be enough long term information available to judge the effectiveness of the M6c to answer questions like:
Does the movement of the prostheses remain for ever?
Does it prevent overload to the adjacent cervical discs?
Does it prevent fusion?
What I found:
An article from Professor Dr. med. W. I. Steudel from the Universitätskliniken des Saarlandes who conducted a study in 2008 concluded that there is no statistically significant difference between Fusion or prostheses as there is not enough long term data available. (You find the article if you Google for
"Bewegungsanalyse bei zervikalen Bandscheibenprothesen"). http://scidok.sulb.uni-saarland.de/v...del_Nabhan.pdf He concludes that according to his study a prostheses is only an interesting alternative to fusion. On the other hand did I also find articles claiming the opposite.
Fusion does not necessarily seem to be a bad alternative. It is incredible how much movement remains despite fusion e.g. from C3toC7. Have a look at this video on YouTube. (search for
"spineant C3C7")
CW C3C7 ACDF 2 months postop - YouTube
Robustness of the M6c?
To mimic the complex movements of a natural disc, as the M6c is supposed to do, requires a complex mechanical design. Complex mechanical designs usually take years to become robust enough to work without failure in real life situations. Very seldom do complex designs work without failure first time every time.
Collapse of a M6c in Germany
In a German Cervical Disc Forum (similar to this one) there is an unfortunate story about a M6c that actually broke after six years. Subsequently the nucleus of the M6c pushed right into the patient's spine channel (2013) causing serious complications and a very risky and delicate removal. (See posting from 17-01-2014). (The posting is found if you Google for "
Prothesen-KERN (M6-C) im Spinalkanal gelandet..., Fusion wegen Implantatversagen (c5/c6)").
Bandscheiben-Forum - Hilfe rund um die Uhr
The reaction by Spinal Kinetics according to the posting was that this can not happen with the latest M6 designs. What would that mean? (OP with M6c that failed seems to have been conducted in Jul 2007).
My conclusion to this is to go for a regular check up to confirm that there are no visual changes to the prosthesis. Currently I don't know what is the most suitable method. MRT?
Comparison of cervical disc prostheses?
Is there a study that compares the various available cervical disc prostheses with respect to robustness, advantages and disadvantages?
Is there a study on cervical disc prostheses for a time period longer than 10 years proving robustness over time?
I am looking forward to your answers and comments. Best regards