How to Pronounce Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy
Definition, meaning, and phonetic spelling
Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy Pronunciation
SER-vih-kal spon-dih-LOT-ik my-el-OP-ah-thee
Stressed syllable in ALL CAPS · hyphens separate syllables
Syllable Breakdown
SER
stress here
vih
kal spon
dih
LOT
stress here
ik my
el
OP
stress here
ah
thee
10 syllables
What is Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy?
The most common cause of spinal cord dysfunction in adults over 55, caused by degenerative changes in the cervical spine (neck) that compress the spinal cord, causing progressive hand clumsiness, arm and leg weakness, and gait disturbance.
Questions About Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy
How do you pronounce cervical spondylotic myelopathy?
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Say it like this: SER-vih-kal spon-dih-LOT-ik my-el-OP-ah-thee. The stress falls on the first syllable of each main word part: SER in cervical, LOT in spondylotic, and OP in myelopathy. It's a long word, so take it one chunk at a time and you'll get it.
What's the most common mistake people make when saying this word?
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Many people accidentally stress the wrong syllable in "spondylotic" — they say spon-DIL-oh-tic instead of spon-dih-LOT-ik. Remember to put the emphasis on the LOT part, not the dil part.
What does 'cervical' mean in this term?
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Cervical comes from the Latin word for neck, so it refers to the neck region of your spine. Whenever you see the word cervical in medical terms, it's almost always talking about the neck area.
What does 'myelopathy' mean?
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Myelopathy breaks down into two Greek roots: myelo- meaning spinal cord, and -pathy meaning disease or disorder. So myelopathy simply means a disease or problem affecting the spinal cord.
What does 'spondylotic' refer to?
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Spondylotic comes from the Greek word spondylos, which means vertebra or spine. The -otic ending means related to or affected by, so spondylotic means related to spine problems or changes in the spine.
Is there a shorter way to say or write this condition?
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Yes, doctors often shorten it to CSM, which stands for Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy. You say it by spelling out the letters: C-S-M, or you can say it as a word like "see-sem."
What other medical words share the root 'myelo-'?
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Other words with myelo- include myelitis (inflammation of the spinal cord) and myelogram (an imaging test of the spinal cord). They all refer to something involving the spinal cord because that's what myelo- means.
Can you use this word in a simple sentence?
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Here's an example: "The doctor used the term cervical spondylotic myelopathy to describe the patient's spinal cord condition." This shows how you'd use it in everyday medical conversation.