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Objective:

To review and discuss the etiology, diagnosis and treatment C3 of bilateral cervical spondylolysis.

Methods:

This was a retrospective review of the clinical features, imaginge findings, and treatment of 4 cases of bilateral C3 cervical spondylolysis, with a review of the literature.

Results:

A 21-year-old woman, a 26-year-old man, a 14-year-old boy, and a 46-year-old man were diagnosed with bilateral C3 cervical spondylolysis. The patients had characteristic bilateral clefts between the articular pillar and the facets of C3, as well as spina bifida on CT. Although spondylolisthesis was not observed, spinal cord compression was definitive. All patients underwent posterior decompression with satisfactory results.

Conclusions:

C3 cervical spondylolysis is rare condition. The cause is most likely congenital. Diagnosis is dependent on characteristic radiological features. Surgical treatment is the first choice.


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Rare bilateral C3 cervical spondylolysis: Report of four cases and a literature review

Show Author's information Huaiyu Tong1,§Hongzhen Jiang2,§Xinguang Yu1Yuanzheng Zhang1( )
Department of Neurosurgery, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China
Department of Neurosurgery, Tsinghua University Yuquan Hospital, Beijing 100040, China

§ These authors contributed equally to this work.

Abstract

Objective:

To review and discuss the etiology, diagnosis and treatment C3 of bilateral cervical spondylolysis.

Methods:

This was a retrospective review of the clinical features, imaginge findings, and treatment of 4 cases of bilateral C3 cervical spondylolysis, with a review of the literature.

Results:

A 21-year-old woman, a 26-year-old man, a 14-year-old boy, and a 46-year-old man were diagnosed with bilateral C3 cervical spondylolysis. The patients had characteristic bilateral clefts between the articular pillar and the facets of C3, as well as spina bifida on CT. Although spondylolisthesis was not observed, spinal cord compression was definitive. All patients underwent posterior decompression with satisfactory results.

Conclusions:

C3 cervical spondylolysis is rare condition. The cause is most likely congenital. Diagnosis is dependent on characteristic radiological features. Surgical treatment is the first choice.

Keywords: cervical spondylolysis, spondylolisthesis, spinal stenosis

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Publication history
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Publication history

Received: 07 July 2015
Revised: 25 August 2015
Accepted: 30 August 2015
Published: 01 December 2015
Issue date: December 2015

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© The authors 2015.

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This article is published with open access at www.TNCjournal.com

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