Spinal Arthroplasty Device and Method

An artificial spinal joint for creating at least a portion of a coupling between a superior vertebra and an inferior vertebra comprising:

• an anterior joint replacement component including
• an upper retaining member having an upper endplate contact surface adapted to contact an endplate of the superior vertebra, and an upper joint surface;
• a lower retaining member having a lower endplate contact surface adapted to contact an endplate of the inferior vertebra and an integrally formed lower joint surface, wherein the upper and lower joint surfaces are slidably engaged;
• a bridge having a proximal end and a distal end, the bridge coupled to the anterior joint replacement component at the proximal end;
• and
• a posterior joint replacement component coupled to the distal end of the bridge and sized to extend posteriorly outside of a disc space defined between the endplates of the superior and inferior vertebrae and including an upper articulation face fit together in articulating engagement with a lower articulation face.

An artificial spinal joint comprising:

• a disc replacement component including
• an upper retaining member comprising an upper vertebral endplate contact surface, configured to engage an endplate of an upper generally cylindrical vertebral body portion of an upper vertebra, and an upper joint surface and
• a lower retaining member comprising a lower vertebral endplate contact surface, configured to engage an endplate of a lower generally cylindrical vertebral body portion of a lower vertebra, and a lower joint surface, wherein the upper and lower joint surfaces are disposed between the upper and lower vertebral endplate contact surfaces and are slidably engaged;
• an artificial facet component spaced a posterior distance apart from the disc replacement component, the artificial facet component including an upper articulation face fit in mating and articulating engagement with a lower articulation face;
• and
• a fixation bridging component sized to extend posteriorly outside a disc space between the upper and lower generally cylindrical vertebral body portions, the fixation bridging component connected between the disc replacement component and the lower articulation face of the artificial facet component.