Kinematics of the Cervical Spine Under Healthy and Degenerative Conditions: A Systematic Review

Knowledge of spinal kinematics is essential for the diagnosis and management of spinal diseases. Distinguishing between physiological and pathological motion patterns can help diagnose these diseases, plan surgical interventions and improve relevant tools and software. During the last decades, numerous studies based on diverse methodologies attempted to elucidate spinal mobility in different planes of motion. The authors aimed to summarize and compare the evidence about cervical spine kinematics under healthy and degenerative conditions. This includes an illustrated description of the spectrum of physiological cervical spine kinematics, followed by a comparable presentation of kinematics of the degenerative cervical spine. Data was obtained through a systematic MEDLINE search including studies on angular/translational segmental motion contribution, range of motion, coupling and center of rotation. As far as the degenerative conditions are concerned, kinematic data regarding disc degeneration and spondylolisthesis were available. Although the majority of the studies identified repeating motion patterns for most motion planes, discrepancies associated with limited sample sizes and different imaging techniques and/or spine configurations, were noted. Among healthy/asymptomatic individuals, flexion extension (FE) and lateral bending (LB) are mainly facilitated by the subaxial cervical spine. C4-C5 and C5-C6 were the major FE contributors in the reported studies, exceeding the motion contribution of sub-adjacent segments. Axial rotation (AR) greatly depends on C1-C2. FE range of motion (ROM) is distributed between the atlantoaxial and subaxial segments, while AR ROM stems mainly from the former and LB ROM from the latter. In coupled motion rotation is quantitatively predominant over translation. Motion migrates caudally from C1-C2 and the center of rotation (COR) translocates anteriorly and superiorly for each successive subaxial segment. In degenerative settings, concurrent or subsequent lesions render the association between diseases and mobility alterations challenging. The affected segments seem to maintain translational and angular motion in early and moderate degeneration. However, the progression of degeneration restrains mobility, which seems to be maintained or compensated by adjacent non-affected segments. While the kinematics of the healthy cervical spine have been addressed by multiple studies, the entire nosological and kinematic spectrum of cervical spine degeneration is partially addressed. Large-scale in vivo studies can complement the existing evidence, cover the gaps and pave the way to technological and clinical breakthroughs.