Disease relevance of Odontoid Process

• CONCLUSION: CPPD crystal deposition disease involving the C1-C2 articulation can be a clinically important entity that may place affected patients at increased risk of pathologic fracture of the odontoid process [1].
• We report a case of an ABC in the odontoid process of a 74-year-old who sought treatment for pain and myelopathy [2].
• Roentgenogram of the cervical spine revealed marked osteolysis of C1 and C2 which allowed the odontoid process to migrate upward, compress and produce atrophy of the cervical spine cord [3].
• The patient presented with spastic quadriparesis and tophaceous involvement of the odontoid process with fracture and C1-C2 instability [4].
• Sudden death in rheumatoid arthritis from vertical subluxation of the odontoid process [5].

High impact information on Odontoid Process

• Calcification was localised behind the odontoid process, inserted upon the osseous tubercles of the lateral masses of C1, and had a curvilinear profile; it varied in height (1.5 to 9 mm) and appearance (thin = < 1 mm; thick = > 1 mm) and formed either a single or a double band [6].
• Fracture of the odontoid process complicating tardive dystonia [7].
• We describe a duplication of the odontoid process in a 6-year-old patient that included a partially fused midline ossicle on the anterior arch of C-1, fusion of the anterior lip of the foramen magnum and the arch of C-1, and an incomplete bony posterior arch of C-1 [8].
• Between 1984 and 1996, seven patients with symptomatic masses located posterior to the odontoid process and containing calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystals were evaluated by the senior author (A.H.M) [9].
• Increased atlanto-axial instability secondary to an atraumatic fracture of the odontoid process in a patient who had rheumatoid arthritis. A case report [10].

Chemical compound and disease context of Odontoid Process

• Radiography and myelography demonstrated cervical stenosis secondary to atlantal (C1) malformation producing a dorsoventral deformity of the laminar arch with atlantoaxial spinal cord compression between the ventrally displaced laminar arch of the atlas and the underlying odontoid process of C2 [11].

Anatomical context of Odontoid Process

• A hypoplastic posterior arch of C-1 may amplify the risk of spinal cord damage following atlantoaxial subluxation, as the subsequently smaller vertebral canal has less room for dorsal movement of the odontoid process [12].
• The vertical orientation of the cervical column results in a vertical positioning of the odontoid process of the axis (second cervical vertebra, C2), which thus provides the axis of rotation for yaw movements of the head [13].
• RESULTS: MDCT detected one facet joint subluxation and 31 fractures in 17 patients: 14 transverse fractures, 8 spinous process fractures, 2 Jefferson's fractures, 1 type I and 2 type II odontoid process fractures, and 1 each: atlanto-occipital joint fracture and C2 laminar fracture plus isolated transverse process and facet joint fractures [14].

Associations of Odontoid Process with chemical compounds

• The apparent absence of a fracture line through the base of the odontoid process on parasagittal or coronal reformations does not rule out the diagnosis [15].
• The resorbable screw was evaluated for its ability to restore strength and stiffness to the fractured odontoid process compared with traditional titanium screws [16].

Gene context of Odontoid Process

• Cranial subluxation of the odontoid process in rheumatoid arthritis [17].
• This is the first case reported of an ABC of the odontoid process [2].
• Pathologic fracture of odontoid process secondary to amyloid deposition [18].
• The fusion of the dens axis with the body of the axis also coincides with switching off of the Pax-1 gene [19].
• Spontaneous fracture of the odontoid process in a patient with ankylosing spondylitis. Nonunion responsible for compression of the upper cervical cord [20].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Odontoid Process

• CONCLUSIONS: As the pivot of rotatory subluxation changed after odontoid process osteosynthesis, posterior C1-C2 arthrodesis was performed [21].

References