Peekskill resident first to
undergo new procedure

Northern Westchester Hospital (NWH) in Mt. Kisco, offers a new artificial disc replacement surgery using the Prestige Cervical Disc, a stainless-steel disc approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year.

The device, manufactured by Medtronic Sofamor Danek, is the first-ever artificial cervical (neck) disc used for the treatment of cervical degenerative disc disease, one of the leading causes of neck and arm pain.

According to Dr. Ezriel Kornel, director of the Institute for Neurosciences at Northern Westchester Hospital, cervical degenerative disc disease is very common. Artificial disc replacement surgery offers patients an alternative to anterior cervical discectomy with fusion (ACDF), more commonly known as spinal fusion surgery. Many patients have achieved excellent results with ACDF but can potentially experience deterioration of the discs above and below the fused disc resulting in further cervical disc. Artificial disc replacement is designed to maintain motion, potentially providing an advantage over traditional fusion surgery.
NWH currently has one of the most active spine surgery programs of any hospital in Westchester with over 275 spinal surgeries performed last year.

Dr. Kornel recently performed NWH’s first cervical disc replacement using the new technology. His patient, 47-year-old Jo Ann Davis of Peekskill, is a recreational therapist and director of community outreach for a health services firm in New York City, who also runs a full-service pet bereavement business out of her home. Davis, an avid runner who ran the New York City Marathon three years ago, had experienced numbness and tingling in her right hand and fingertips for more than a year and found that running seemed to exacerbate her symptoms. She was referred to Kornel after an X-ray showed impingement of the spinal cord.

The surgery took about two-and-a-half hours and Davis stayed in the hospital overnight.
“When I awoke the next morning, I was amazed to feel that my arm felt like it was alive again,” she said. “I guess I never realized how impaired I really was. The tingling and numbness had been replaced with warmth and a wonderful feeling of sensation. At that moment, I knew that I had made the right decision to proceed with the artificial disc replacement.”
Davis also recently reported that she has maintained full range of motion with the new disc.