Abstract
Background The persistence of synchondrosis in adulthood can confound diagnostic decisions made during patient management. Case Description A 59-year-old woman who presented neck pain, acute headache, and acute cervical myelopathy symptoms after suffering whiplash grade 3 in a car rear-end impact underwent a conventional radiologic study that revealed no fracture and no anatomic spine variations. The magnetic resonance imaging study revealed no spinal cord intensity signal changes, but it showed a persistent (remnant) dentocentral synchondrosis that was undetected in a previous conventional radiographic evaluation. Conclusions The localization and level of the remnant of the dentocentral synchondrosis are extremely important from the clinical viewpoint because of odontoid and C2 fractures. Neurosurgeons should thus be aware of the possible presence of a persistent (remnant) C2 dentocentral synchondrosis in adult subjects in order to avoid misdiagnosis with C2 fracture.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 26-27 |
| Number of pages | 2 |
| Journal | World Neurosurgery |
| Volume | 111 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Mar 2018 |
Keywords
- Anatomy
- Cervical axis
- Diagnosis
- Odontoid process
- Signs and symptoms
- Spine
- Synchondrosis
- Whiplash
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Surgery
- Neurology (clinical)