Spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma (SSEH) is a very rare clinical condition, which requires urgent surgery. It may result, if diagnosis and treatment are delayed, in a permanent neurological deficit or even in death. In this article, we present three cases with SSEH, a 27 year-old male patient with a severe back pain following heavy lifting, and an 18 year-old male patient with complaints of ...

Cervical spine anomalies are a common cause of fixed torticollis in young patients. In 50% of cases, they are part of the Klippel-Feil syndrome, in which the anomalies lead to the clinical triad of short neck, low posterior hairline, and limitation of neck range of motion. The cervical spine anomalies can also be isolated, as e.g. in athletes. These anomalies are often asymptomatic, but can be ...

The use of skull correction is controversial, and treatment recommendations reporting results vary. most commonly observed deformities the are: plagiocephaly, brachycephaly scaphocephaly. Treatment includes repositioning, physical therapy, orthotic with an adapted cranial remoulding orthosis (CRO). Positional plagiocephaly should be differentiated from torticollis, which also one main causes th...

Nine out of fifteen cases having division of the spinal component of the accessory nerve and the upper cervical motor roots as treatment for spasmodic torticollis had residual movements in the sternomastoid of sufficient magnitude to make further surgery necessary before the muscle was effectively paralysed. These observations imply a more complex innervation for the muscle than is to be found ...

Cervical dystonia (CD) is a prevalent and incapacitating movement disorder which needs a thorough clinical evaluation of every patient to better tailor treatment strategies. In Brazil, there are no validated CD scales that measure the burden of dystonia. The aim of our study was to translate and adapt the Toronto Western Spasmodic Torticollis Rating Scale (TWSTRS) to Brazilian Portuguese. After...

Congenital muscular torticollis (CMT) and craniosynostosis are diseases that cause plagiocephaly and craniofacial asymmetry in children. In our literature review, we did not find any report of concurrent manifestation of CMT and craniosynostosis. A 41-month-old boy visited our hospital with left torticollis, right laterocollis, and craniofacial asymmetry as the main findings. During clinical ex...

Congenital muscular torticollis (CMT), also known as fibromatosis colli, is recognized as unilateral contracture and shortening of the sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscle due to muscle atrophy and interstitial fibrosis, causing ipsilateral head tilt and turn (Do, 2006). Its frequency ranges from 0.3 to 2% in newborns with history of perinatal injury, but it is far less common in adults, who are of...

CT was used to examine six patients with clinically evident atlantoaxial rotary fixation, two patients with torticollis, and six normal subjects who had turned their heads to the side as far as voluntarily possible. The CT appearances of the atlantoaxial complex were identical in all three groups. To differentiate these groups, we propose a functional scan through C1-C2 in which patients are sc...

We report three cases of atlanto-axial rotatory fixation in adults. Early diagnosis was made by clinical tests showing restricted head rotation in maximal neck flexion and asymmetry of the transverse processes of the atlas, confirmed by cineradiography. Early treatment by traction may obviate long-term problems of torticollis and instability.