Recently, the 49th Cervical Spine Research Society (CSRS) Annual Meeting - an important academic event in this field was held in Atlanta, USA. The meeting was broadcasted live on the internet at the same time and the top cervical spine surgical experts from various countries gathered together to discuss the latest developments in the cervical spine surgery field. At the meeting, the cervical myelopathy research team led by Director Chang Yunbing achieved fruitful results and presented two research findings in the form of presentation (online) and wall poster sharing respectively, showing the clinical and scientific research strength in cervical spine surgery of Guangdong Province on the international stage. Their high-quality research results and fluent English expression have left a deep impression on the cervical spine experts from various countries.

In the past, there was a lack of convenient and accurate tools to assess the hand function in patients with cervical myelopathy. At this conference, the research titled “Accuracy of an AI visional application for detecting 10-s grip and release test” showed to the world the AI hand function assessment tool developed by the team, which is the first of its kind based on AI video recognition and can accurately assess the severity of the abnormal hand function in patients with cervical myelopathy, providing objective, accurate and easily accessible data for the accurate understanding of surgical indications and the judgment of postoperative functional recovery.

The application of this AI tool can make the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of cervical myelopathy become easier and more accurate and the assessment of the hand function in patients with cervical myelopathy simpler, more convenient and objective. It is a powerful tool for the diagnosis of cervical myelopathy and the evaluation of efficacy in clinical practice.

It was believed in the past that the postoperative recovery of cervical myelopathy patients with a long smoking history was not ideal, which stopped many such patients from accepting operation treatment. In another research conducted by Chang Yunbing’s team titled “Influence of preoperative smoking status on clinical outcomes of laminoplasty in patients with degenerative cervical myelopathy”, the researchers conducted a prospective study on patients with cervical myelopathy in GDPH, who had a history of smoking, and found that an ideal efficacy can be still achieved on patients with a long-standing history of smoking after a modified minimally invasive posterior surgery. At present, there are a large number of cervical myelopathy patients with smoking experience in China. This research finding dispels their doubts and makes them more confident in operation treatment.

Founded in 1973, the Cervical Spine Research Society (CSRS) is a multidisciplinary organization interested in clinical and research problems of the cervical spine, with a purpose to provide a forum for the exchange and development of ideas and philosophy regarding the diagnosis and treatment of cervical spine injury and disease. Currently, the CSRS is a globally recognized authoritative society in the field of cervical spine surgery, which holds an international annual meeting in North America each year, inviting cervical surgical experts from all over the world to share and discuss the most cutting-edge techniques and research findings on cervical spine surgery. Director Chang Yunbing and Dr. Liang Guoyan from the Department of Spine Surgery, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital are members of the International (North America) CSRS and CSRS Asia Pacific Section (CSRS-AP). Their team has been active in the international top cervical spine society, not only showing the latest research results in cervical spine of Guangdong Province to the peers in the world, thus significantly improving the international academic status of the Department of Spine Surgery, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, but also being recognized by the international cervical spine academic circle on our operative skills and scientific research achievements in the cervical spine surgery field for many years.

The Department of Spine Surgery, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital is a deputy leader unit of the Spinal Micrology Group of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, a microscope technology training base in south China and one of the earliest units to carry out minimally invasive cervical spine surgery under microscope and endoscope in China. Thanks to the development of minimally invasive microscopy technology, the team can complete more than 500 cervical spine surgeries every year, with average hospitalization time less than 3 days, and has spread and promoted this technique both inside and outside Guangdong Province through training sessions and academic conferences. Not only has the cervical myelopathy treatment team led by Director Chang Yunbing maintained a leading position in the field of surgical technology, but also kept pace with the advanced clinical researches of the international counterparts. The academic research results of the team have further improved their clinical skills and made their techniques in the diagnosis and treatment of cervical myelopathy more accurate and advanced.

Expert profile

Professor Chang Yunbing, MD, postgraduate tutor, chief physician, director and academic leader of the Department of Spine Surgery.

He has been engaged in orthopedics and spine surgery for more than 30 years, and is good at the diagnosis and treatment of common and intractable  diseases in spine surgery. He has pioneered a series of new techniques such as minimally invasive cervical spine and lumbar vertebra surgery under microscope, atlantoaxial deformity and upper cervical spine tumor surgical treatment, as well as comprehensive and staged treatment of neck, shoulder, waist and leg pain in China. Moreover, he has presided over and participated in a number of provincial scientific research projects and won 8 first, second and third prizes of scientific and technological progress and medical achievement awards above the provincial level. In addition, he has published more than 70 papers as the first author or corresponding author in core journals and above and is a corresponding member of the North American Cervical Spine Research Society (CSRS), member of CSRS-AP, founding member of CSRS-China and standing member of China Branch, International Society of Orthopaedics Surgery and Traumatology (SICOT).

Liang Guoyan