Congenital atlanto-axial dislocation.

Atlanto-axial dislocation IS an uncommon condition. It is usually secondary to trauma, infection (tuberculous and non-tuberculous atlas and axis) and rheumatoid arthritis. Other uncommon causes reported include retropharyngeal abscess, malignant deposits, ankylosing spondylitis (Sorin, et al, 1979). Congenital atlanto-axial dislocation is rare. Wadia (1967) first drew attention to its relative common occurrence among his patients in India. This finding has since then been substantiated by other authors (Bharucha et al., 1964). Congenital atlanto-axial dislocation is also said to be relatively common in Ceylon and Thailand (Wadia, 1972). Rheumatoid arthritis is not as commonly found in Malaysia as in the western developing countries. Its pattern of illness seen here also tends to be of milder form of illness (Toh, et al., 1973). Ethnically Indians constitute about ten percent of the multiracial population of Malaysia. It is thus interesting to note that since the inception of the University Hospital in 1968, we have seen three cases of cong-enital atlanto-axial