The Inferior Accessory Ossicle of the Anterior Arch of the Atlas Misdiagnosed as Anterior Arch Fracture - A Case Report -

Yung Park; Hyoung Bok Kim; Sang Woo Jeon; Yun Tae Lee; Ju Hyung Yoo; Hyun Chul Oh; Joong-Won Ha; Seung Yong Sung; Han Kook Yoon

doi:10.4184/JKSS.2021.19.1.16

Journal List > J Korean Soc Spine Surg > v.19(1) > 1075977

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Park, Kim, Jeon, Lee, Yoo, Oh, Ha, Sung, and Yoon: The Inferior Accessory Ossicle of the Anterior Arch of the Atlas Misdiagnosed as Anterior Arch Fracture - A Case Report -

Case Report

J Korean Soc Spine Surg 2012;19(1):16-19.

Published online: 18 March 2012

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4184/JKSS.2021.19.1.16

The Inferior Accessory Ossicle of the Anterior Arch of the Atlas Misdiagnosed as Anterior Arch Fracture - A Case Report -

Yung Park, M.D., Hyoung Bok Kim, M.D., Sang Woo Jeon, M.D., Yun Tae Lee, M.D., Ju Hyung Yoo, M.D., Hyun Chul Oh, M.D., Joong-Won Ha, M.D., Seung Yong Sung, M.D., Han Kook Yoon, M.D.

Department of Orthopedic Surgery, National Health Insurance Corporation Ilsan Hospital, Gyeonggi, Korea Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Corresponding author: Joong-Won Ha, M.D. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, National Health Insurance Corporation Ilsan Hospital, Gyeonggi, South Korea TEL: 82-31-900-0227, FAX: 82-31-900-0343 E-mail: esshappy@daum.net

Received 11 March 20115 August 2011 Accepted 12 August 2011

“This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.”

Abstract

Study Design

Case report.

Objectives

We report a very rare case of the inferior accessory ossicle of the anterior arch of the atlas misdiagnosed as anterior arch fracture.

Summary of Literature Review

It is necessary to know the existence of inferior accessory ossicle of the anterior arch of the atlas, even though it is extremely rare.

Materials and Methods

A 29-year-old woman was referred to our emergency service unit with symptoms of neck pain and scalp laceration, after being involved in a car accident. She was diagnosed as the inferior accessory ossicle of the anterior arch of the atlas, by multiple diagnostic mordalities.

Results

The symptom of neck pain was relieved spontaneously, and her symptom has been relieved at her latest visit, as a follow up within 3 months.

Conclusions

It is important to be aware of cervical anatomical variants because we commonly confuse it with other pathologic conditions, such as a fracture and thus, misdiagnose the condition.

Keywords: Atlas, Inferior accessory ossicle, Anterior arch fracture

REFERENCES

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Fig.1.

Lateral radiograph of cervical spine shows a well corticated bone fragment inferior to the anterior arch of atlas (black arrow)

Fig.2.

Lateral CT at the level of C1 showing inferior accessory ossicle of the anterior arch of atlas (white arrow).

Fig.3.

T1 GD enhance MR image showing no definite evidence of hema-toma and soft tissue swelling at the level of C1

Fig.4.

Whole body bone scan showing normal finding.

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