Acute injuries of the upper cervical spine as a cause of severe disability and death following trauma has at all times been an interesting phase of anatomical study [1]. The cranio-vertebral region has been considered an unstable, ontogenetically restless zone and thus susceptible to many variants, anomalies and malformations [2]. A number of authors have called attention to changes in the uppe...

BACKGROUND Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) is an inherited disorder affecting the connective tissue. EDS can manifest with symptoms attributable to the spine or craniovertebral junction (CVJ). In addition to EDS, numerous congenital, developmental, or acquired disorders can increase ligamentous laxity in the CVJ and cervical spine. Resulting abnormalities can lead to morbidity and serious neurolog...

background : anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (acdf) is an effective treatment for disc herniations ; but some studies demonstrated that in the untreated levels adjacent to a fusion, increased motion might lead to an increased risk of adjacent segment degeneration (asd). on the other hand, methods of cervical disc arthroplasty (cda) have improved. the aim of this study is to evaluate and...

During the last 10 years, posterior plating utilizing lateral mass screw fixation has become more popular for treating instability of the lower cervical spine. Injury to the spinal nerves associated with insertion of lateral mass screws is the main complication of this procedure. The purpose of this article is to briefly review the status of this procedure and to update the advances in anatomic...

The majority of patients with rheumatoid arthritis involving the cervical spine can be managed non-operatively. These patients should be monitored closely by the treating physician for the development of neurologic symptoms or subluxation on radiographs. Non-surgical treatment in the majority of patients has a definite role. Several studies now suggest early surgical intervention in patients wi...

OBJECTIVES Loss of motion following spine segment fusion results in increased strain in the adjacent motion segments. However, to date, studies on the biomechanics of the cervical spine have not assessed the role of coupled motions in the lumbar spine. Accordingly, we investigated the biomechanics of the cervical spine following cervical fusion and lumbar fusion during simulated whiplash using ...

To establish an incidence of cervical spine injuries in significant blunt head trauma and to evaluate the necessity of using cervical radiography, all consecutive cases of blunt head trauma admitted to the trauma service over a 7-month period were reviewed. Two hundred twenty-eight charts were reviewed for demographic information, circumstance of injury, complaints and physical findings referab...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease involving multiple joints. The cervical spine is often affected, and cases involving atlantoaxial joint can lead to instability. Anterior atlantoaxial subluxation in RA patients can lead to posterior neck pain or occipital headache because of compression of the C2 ganglion or nerve. Here, we report the successful treatment of a RA pati...

STUDY OBJECTIVE We aim to determine the prevalence and factors associated with cervical discoligamentous injuries detected on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in acute, alert, neurologically intact trauma patients with computed tomography (CT) imaging negative for acute injury and persistent midline cervical spine tenderness. We present the cross-sectional analysis of baseline information colle...

Odontoid fractures are typically associated with low rates of acute neurologic deficit and morbidity/mortality in nonelderly patients. In the patient in this case, traumatic injury triggered by a syncopal event led to a combined C1-C2 fracture and a fatal spinal cord injury with apnea, quadriplegia, and cardiovascular instability. We briefly review the anatomical basis for the pathophysiology o...