Abstract
Cranio-cervical junction abnormalities are a rare combination of congenital or acquired malformations, linked to the occipital-cervical region that often leads to severe neurological disorders. There is a great clinical polymorphism and high variability in the natural history of these conditions, which determines therapeutic outcomes difficult to assess in a global sense. The authors of this report give an account of the case of malformative bone complex of cranio-cervical junction and carry out a non-systematic search of the literature. We analyze the clinical case of a 19-year-old woman who presents hypoesthesia in the four limbs, spastic paraparesis that began one year ago, and evolved to tetraparesis. On physical examination, there is quadriparesis, pronounced in the lower limbs, hyperreflexia, and Babinski sign bilaterally and the Hoffman sign. The hypothesis of myelopathy was made. X-ray suggested the possibility of a malformation of the cranio-cervical junction suggesting basilar impression with an odontoid process anomaly. Computed tomography, suspected myelopathy, demonstrates an anomaly of the cranio-cervical junction, basilar impression. MRI is performed of the cranio-cervical junction concluding a basilar impression with significant additional cord damage.
Keywords: Cranio-cervical malformations; Basilar impression; Platybasia; High cord compression
Copyright © 2021 by The American Society for BioMedicine and BM-Publisher, Inc.
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Clinical Case
http://dx.doi.org/10.18081/2333-5106/015-09/545-551
American Journal of BioMedicine 2021, Volume 9, Issue 2, pages 122-141
Received January 19, 2021; revised April 25, 2021; accepted May 10, 2021; published May 21, 2021