This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Piatt, J. H
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Piatt, J. H, Jr
Related Collections
Right arrow Emergency Medicine

AAP Grand Rounds 4:48 (2000)
© 2000 American Academy of Pediatrics

EMERGENCY MEDICINE

Assessment of Traumatic Craniocervical Instability in Children

Source: Sun PP, Poffenbarger GJ, Durham S, et al. Spectrum of occipitoatlantoaxial injury in young children. J Neurosurg. 2000;93(suppl 1):28–39.

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

In young children, most traumatic cervical spine injuries occur at the craniocervical junction. Because these injuries tend to be ligamentous rather than osseous, assessment by radiography and computed tomography (CT) is notoriously difficult. The multitude of imaging criteria for instability based on lines and ratios testifies to the intractability of this problem. Sun et al report their experience with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 71 consecutive children with traumatic cervical spine injuries evaluated at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Patients were excluded from the study if they had preexisting cervical anomalies (Down syndrome). Indications for MRI were a suspicion of cervical trauma in patients who could . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Joseph H Piatt, Jr, MD, FAAP
Neurological Surgery and Pediatrics, MCP Hahnemann University, St Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, PA