INTRODUCTION Atlantoaxial instability is a common and serious injury of the upper cervical spine. Brooks' procedure is widely used to reconstruct the unstable atlantoaxial joint. The migration into spinal cord of titanium cable and spontaneous fusion between C2 and C3 has been little reported and the management of such a patient is difficult. We describe an unusual case of fatigue failure of po...

In the past several decades methods have been developed to stabilize the subaxial cervical spine both posteriorly and anteriorly. Methods of posterior stabilization have progressed from interspinous wiring, through facet wiring and sublaminar wiring, to the lateral mass screws with plates and rods that are in use today. Plates for anterior stabilization have evolved from rigid plates requiring ...

Forty-one patients with rheumatoid arthritis involving the cervical spine had a posterior cervical arthrodesis. They were followed for a minimum period of seven years. The diagnoses prior to surgery included cranial settling, atlantoaxial subluxation, subaxial subluxation, and any combination of these three. All patients had posterior arthrodesis, with or without methylmethacrylate, and iliac c...

Klippel-Feil syndrome (KFS) is a congenital developmental disorder of cervical spine, showing short neck with restricted neck motion, low hairline, and high thoracic cage due to multilevel cervical fusion. Radiculopathy or myelopathy can be accompanied. There were 2 patients who were diagnosed as KFS with exhibited radiological and physical characteristics. Both patients had stenosis and cord c...

OBJECTIVE To develop a new method to describe cervical spine curvature and evaluate the potential for injury in the upper and lower cervical spine during simulated whiplash. DESIGN A method was developed to integrate the upper and lower cervical spine rotations and describe the spine curvature. BACKGROUND In vivo and in vitro whiplash simulations have documented the development of an S-shap...

Osteomyelitis of the spine is a fairly uncommon event following an orthopedic surgical procedure. However, a solitary osteomyelitic abscess of the upper cervical spine is very rare. Surgical intervention is often the only life-saving treatment method. A 70-year-old female patient with diabetes was received from a rural community with symptoms of progressive quadraparesis and progressive respira...

BACKGROUND Numerous studies have shown that there are better alternatives to log rolling patients with unstable spinal injuries, although this method is still commonly used for placing patients onto a spine board. No previous studies have examined transfer maneuvers involving an injured football player with equipment in place onto a spine board. PURPOSE To test 3 different transfer maneuvers ...

The initial evaluation and management of cervical spine injuries is of critical importance because of the impact of early treatment and management on the patient's eventual outcome. The devastation and cost of missing even one unstable cervical spine fracture is tremendous. The existence of patients with an unsuspected cervical spine fracture who have few, if any, symptoms and/or signs of an in...