Degenerative Cervical Kyphosis: Anatomy, Biomechanics, and Etiology

Alignment plays a critical role in cervical spine function. In the thoracic and lumbar spines, degenerative disease often manifests as complex deformities involving coronal and sagittal plane decompensation, but in the cervical spine, degenerative disease often presents with isolated sagittal plane deformity. Multiple etiologies of cervical kyphosis have been described including traumatic, iatrogenic, inflammatory, and neoplastic processes; all share a common pathway of anterior column shortening, failure of the posterior tension band, or, most commonly, both. The focus of this article will be on the degenerative etiology of cervical kyphosis.