Cervical Abnormalities in Severe Spinal Deformity: A 10-year MRI Review

To investigate the incidence of cervical anomalies (CA), including cervical intraspinal neural axis abnormalities (CIINAA) and/or cervical osseous abnormalities (COA), and the clinical relevance in severe spinal deformities (SSD) at a single center.

A retrospective study of SSD admitted for spinal surgery from January 2003 to January 2015 was conducted at a single center.

patients who present with coronal Cobb over 90° (and/or sagittal cobb ≥90°); and patients with complete imaging and clinical data preoperatively.

ankylosing spondylitis, adult onset scoliosis, scoliosis secondary to bone destruction. There were 108 SSD patients who fulfilled the criteria in this research (41 males and 67 females). The mean age of the patients was 18.1 ± 2.7 years (range, 10-45 years). The clinical and radiological data of these patients were reviewed to identify CA and to analyze the relationship between clinical and radiographic characteristics in the population of SSD.

The major curves of scoliosis and segmental kyphosis were 109.1° ± 24.7° and 91.2° ± 29.1°. Cervical abnormalities were detected in 56 patients (51.85%) with 9 different CA, including 28 patients (25.9%) with 6 different COA, 21 patients (19.4%) with 3 different CIINAA, and 7 patients (6.5%) with a combination of COA and cervical intraspinal neural axis abnormalities (CINAA). Basilar invagination and Klippel-Feil syndrome were the most frequent COA. Syringomyelia was the most frequent CINAA. SSD with COA in upper vertebral levels (UVL) had a higher incidence of CINAA than those in subaxial vertebral levels (SVL) (P = 0.024) and SSD with multiple COA (mCOA) in UVL had a higher incidence of CINAA than those with single COA (sCOA) (P = 0.029). In the present study, 83.9% of the SSD with CA were asymptomatic.

The incidence of CA in SSD was 51.85%, with most presenting with intact neurologic status. As the diversity of COA increased, we found a higher incidence of CINAA, especially in UVL.