Use of titanium expandable vertebral cages in cervical corpectomy

We aimed to investigate the usefulness of titanium expandable cages for vertebral body reconstruction after anterior cervical corpectomy. The records of 29 patients treated with expandable titanium cages for a variety of indications were analysed retrospectively. There was evidence of fusion in all patients. There was no radiographic evidence of more than 4 mm subsidence throughout the series. There were no hardware failures. Our results show that expandable titanium cages are safe and useful in anterior cervical corpectomies for providing adequate anterior column support and solid constructs without significant hardware complications or the risk and morbidity associated with the use of strut allograft or autograft. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.