Patent ID: 8192493

Claim:
A method for partial replacement of a vertebral body comprising: establishing an operative corridor through a patient's skin to a target vertebral body; performing a partial corpectomy of the target vertebral body by forming a recess in the target vertebral body having a cross-sectional shape that in transverse section is narrower than a width of the target vertebral body and that in sagittal section narrows from the front toward the rear direction; and implanting a prosthesis, the prosthesis having an upper contact plate adjacent a superior vertebral body, a lower contact plate adjacent an inferior vertebral body, a bridging part having a trapezoidal cross-section and lateral surfaces configured with rigid anchoring projections, and at least one hinge configured to connect the bridging part to the upper contact plate or lower contact plate, within the recess of the target vertebral body such that the rigid anchoring projections are anchored into the recess as the bridging part is implanted in the target vertebral body.