IntroductionCervical laminoplasty, for which there are three major methods -Z-shaped enlargement [4,11], unilateral enlargement [2,5,8,12,20], and median enlargement [9,15,16] -is a useful method for surgical management of cervical myelopathy due to spinal canal stenosis [2]. Of these, Kurokawa's laminoplasty with median splitting of the spinous processes [15] has become the most widespread method in Japan, because it has certain advantages. The most critical advantage is the maintenance of physiological cervical lordosis through the preservation of the posterior bony architecture. This procedure allows the cervical spinal cord to move posteriorly, and decompresses it by opening the laminae on both sides [15]. Some papers have reported satisfactory clinical outcome without serious operative complications using this procedure and its modification [17,23].However, we have already reported two cases of a curious complication after Kurokawa's laminoplasty [13]. We refer to this complication as a "boomerang sign", as it describes the boomerang shape of the cervical spinal cord caused by migration of the cord between the split laminae following Kurokawa's laminoplasty. The grade of the boomerang deformity progressed following surgery as Abstract Patients with cervical compression myelopathy were studied to elucidate the mechanism underlying boomerang deformity, which results from the migration of the cervical spinal cord between split laminae after laminoplasty with median splitting of the spinous processes (boomerang sign). Thirty-nine cases, comprising 25 patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy, 8 patients with ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament, and 6 patients with cervical disc herniation with developmental canal stenosis, were examined. The clinical and radiological findings were retrospectively compared between patients with (B group, 8 cases) and without (C group, 31 cases) boomerang sign. Moderate increase of the grade of this deformity resulted in no clinical recovery, although there was no difference in clinical recovery between the two groups. Most boomerang signs developed at the C4/5 and/or C5/6 level, where maximal posterior movement of the spinal cord was achieved. Widths between lateral hinges and between split laminae in the B group were smaller than in the C group. Flatness of the spinal cord in the B group was more severe than in the C group. In conclusion, the boomerang sign was caused by posterior movement of the spinal cord, narrower enlargement of the spinal canal and flatness of the spinal cord.