Machine learning-based cluster analysis identifies four unique phenotypes of patients with degenerative cervical myelopathy with distinct clinical profiles and long-term functional and neurological outcomes

Degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM), the predominant cause of spinal cord dysfunction among adults, exhibits diverse interrelated symptoms and significant heterogeneity in clinical presentation. This study sought to use machine learning-based clustering algorithms to identify distinct patient clinical profiles and functional trajectories following surgical intervention.