OBJECTIVE: The authors describe the rationale for choosing a lateral approach to the cervical spine for the management of spondylotic myelo-radiculopathy; the surgical technique as well as its advantages, disadvantages, complications and pitfalls are discussed along with a critical review of their experience accumulated during the last two decades. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A lateral approach to th...

INTRODUCTION Although uncommon, fractures of the os odontoideum are known to occur in children under 7 years old, following acute trauma. CLINICAL PICTURE We report a case of chronic subluxation of the os odontoideum resulting in cervical myelopathy in a child with Beare-Stevenson cutis gyrata syndrome after surgery to the head and neck. TREATMENT AND OUTCOME The patient was initially put i...

PURPOSE Securing the airway of a patient with a potentially unstable cervical spine (C-spine) is a complex and challenging task. The objective of this continuing professional development module is to review the current knowledge essential for airway management in the face of potential C-spine instability and, at the same time, to underline areas of uncertainty and limitations in the literature....

BACKGROUND A cautious outlook towards neck injuries has been the norm to avoid missing cervical spine injuries. Consequently there has been an increased use of cervical spine radiography. The Canadian Cervical Spine rule was proposed to reduce unnecessary use of cervical spine radiography in alert and stable patients. Our aim was to see whether applying the Canadian Cervical Spine rule reduced ...

Spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita (SED) is a rare form of skeletal systemic disease, characterized by congenital dwarfism with a short trunk and epiphysial dysplasia in the long bones and vertebral bodies. Patients also frequently suffer from atlanto-axial instability due to os odontoideum. Compression of the spinal cord caused by atlanto-axial instability is a common, serious complication...

We have reviewed the cervical spine radiographs of 180 patients with athetoid cerebral palsy and compared them with those of 417 control subjects. Disc degeneration occurred earlier and progressed more rapidly in the patients, with advanced disc degeneration in 51%, eight times the frequency in normal subjects. At the C3/4 and C4/5 levels, there was listhetic instability in 17% and 27% of the p...

INTRODUCTION In blunt trauma, comatose patients (Glasgow Coma Scale score 3 to 8) with a negative comprehensive cervical spine (CS) computed tomography assessment and no apparent spinal deficit, CS clearance strategies (magnetic resonance imaging [MRI] and prolonged cervical collar use) are controversial. METHODS We conducted a literature review to delineate risks for coma, CS instability, pr...

STUDY DESIGN Systematic review. STUDY RATIONALE The purpose of this review is to further define the published literature with respect to vertebral artery (VA) anomaly and injury in patients with degenerative cervical spinal conditions. OBJECTIVES In adult patients with cervical spine or degenerative cervical spine disorders receiving cervical spine surgery, what is the incidence of VA injur...

OBJECTIVE To study MRI and positron emission tomography (PET)/CT imaging of osteoradionecrosis (ORN) of the subaxial cervical spine, a serious long-term complication of radiation therapy (RT) for head and neck cancers that can lead to pain, vertebral instability, myelopathy and cord compression. METHODS This is a single-institution retrospective review of patients diagnosed and treated for OR...