Surgery for Giant Calcified Herniated Thoracic Discs: A Systematic Review

Surgical treatment can improve or stabilize neurologic impairment for most patients with giant calcified HTDs. We thus recommend the anterior thoracotomy approach for giant calcified HTDs because of the theoretical advantages over other approaches and the low rate of neurologic deterioration, subarachnoid-pleural cerebrospinal fluid fistula, and reoperation.