The Versatility of Cervical Vertebral Segmentation in Detection of Positional Changes in Patient with Long Standing Congenital Torticollis

Background Congenital muscular torticollis (CMT) is a benign condition. With early diagnosis and appropriate management, it can be cured completely, leaving no residual deformity. However, long-standing, untreated CMT can lead to permanent craniofacial deformities and asymmetry.Methods Nineteen patients presented to the author with congenital muscular torticollis. Three dimensional computed tomography (3-D CT) scans was obtained upon patient’s admission. Adjustment of skull’s position to Frankfort horizontal plan was done. Cervical vertebral segmentation was done which allowed a 3D module to be separately created for each vertebra to detect any anatomical or positional changes.Results The segmented vertebrae showed an apparent anatomical changes, which were most noticeable at the level of the atlas and axis vertebrae. These changes decreased gradually till reaching the seventh cervical vertebra, which appeared to be normal in all patients. The changes in the atlas vertebra were mostly due to its intimate relation with the skull base, while the changes of the axis were the most significantConclusion Cervical vertebral segmentation is a reliable tool for isolation and studying cervical vertebral pathological changes of each vertebra separately. The accuracy of the procedures in addition to the availability of many software that can be used for segmentation will allow many surgeons to use segmentation of the vertebrae for diagnosis and even for preoperative simulation planning.