• 73-year-old right-handed man who presented with inabliity to walk, feed or groom himself.
  
  
• His neurological examination showed significant weakness of upper extremities with atrophy of dorsal interosseous muscles. He was non-ambulatory.

MRI scan of the patient's cervical spine (neck) shows severe stenosis (narrowing) at C3-C4 with evidence of spinal cord compression and contusion.

• After a comprehensive work-up and eliminating other potential contributing causes of his disease, and an appropriate period of conservative measures, he underwent anterior cervical discectomy and instrumented fusion (ACDF) at C34, C45 and C56.

• He did well postoperatively with immediate improvement of his function. He was able to walk, feed and groom himself.