Table 1.

Trial criteria for diagnosis of DCM

MRI indicators	Clinical symptoms	Neurological signs
Effacement of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and deformation of cord	Numb hands	Pyramidal weakness
T1 signal change	Clumsy hands	Hyper-reflexia
T2 signal change	Bilateral arm paraesthesia	Positive Hoffman sign
Segmentation of T2 signal change	Gait impairment	Upgoing plantar response
Reduction in transverse area of cord	Lhermitte’s phenomenon	Atrophy of intrinsic hand muscles
	Weakness	Spasticity/clonus
		Broad based, unstable gait

Participants must have at least one MRI indicator, clinical symptom and neurological sign to be eligible for inclusion.

DCM, degenerative cervical myelopathy.