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Anatomo-radiological importance and the incidence of os odontoideum in Turkish subjects: a retrospective study

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Abstract

Purpose

Os odontoideum is a rare anatomical and morphological variation of the odontoid process and associated with a range of symptoms such as spinal cord and vertebral artery injuries. This study aimed to evaluate the frequency of os odontoideum in Turkish cases by sagittal/coronal cervical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) and analyze the relationship with age, gender and related symptoms.

Methods

The incidence of os odontoideum was retrospectively diagnosed by sagittal/coronal cervical CT and MRI out of 16,122 subjects aged 20–70 years (mean 46) in the period between 2014 and 2018. The relationship of os odontoideum with age, gender, and symptoms was recorded.

Results

The statistical analysis of the study was performed by the χ² test and two-way mixed ANOVA. Os odontoideum was detected in 18 (0.11%) (11 males; 7 females) out of 16,122 patients. The mean age was 47.5 ± 1.4 years in the females and 43.5 ± 2.5 years in the males (p < 0.05). 6 odontoideum were detected out of 6467 (3756 males, mean 48 ± 0.7, 2711 females, mean 46 ± 1.2) subjects by CT and 12 odontoideum were detected out of 9655 patients (5607 males and 4048 females) by MRI.

Conclusion

Neck pain was the most frequent symptom. The prevalence of os odontoideum especially round type is more frequent in older male patients over 40 years old with head and neck pain or atlantoaxial instability, and is less common in Turkish subjects when compared to various ethnic groups.

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Abbreviations

CVJ:

Craniovertebral junction

CT:

Computed tomography

DO:

Dystopic odontoideum

FM:

Foramen magnum

MRI:

Magnetic resonance imaging

OC:

Ossification center

OO:

Orthotopic odontoideum

OP:

Odontoid process

POC:

Primary ossification center

SOC:

Secondary ossification center

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Department of Anatomy and Neurosurgery of Akdeniz University. We also thank the Department of Neurosurgery of Antalya Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Bahçeşehir University, 34734, İstanbul, Turkey

    E. Öğüt

  2. Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Akdeniz University, 07070, Antalya, Turkey

    R. Şekerci & N. Keles-Celik

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, Akdeniz University, 07070, Antalya, Turkey

    H. Şen & H. Çakın

  4. Department of Neurosurgery, University of Health Sciences Antalya Training and Research Hospital, 07070, Antalya, Turkey

    T. Gediz

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  1. E. Öğüt
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Contributions

EÖ, RŞ, NKÇ contributed to the development of the project, study design and drafting of the manuscript. HŞ, HÇ, TG are involved in data collection. EÖ, RŞ, NKÇ contributed to the data management. EÖ, RŞ, HŞ, TG analyzed the data. EÖ participated in the writing of the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to E. Öğüt.

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Öğüt, E., Şekerci, R., Şen, H. et al. Anatomo-radiological importance and the incidence of os odontoideum in Turkish subjects: a retrospective study. Surg Radiol Anat 42, 701–710 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-020-02421-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-020-02421-x

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