Congenital Torticollis in a Child With Cervical Spine Deformity: A Case Report and Literature Review

Congenital torticollis is an abnormal tilt of the neck in a newborn especially on the side of the pathology with the chin pointing toward the contralateral side. The most frequent cause is termed congenital muscular torticollis (CMT) which is a structural abnormality in the muscle of the neck called sternocleidomastoid muscle. There are also other causes of congenital torticollis that may arise such as anomalies of the cervical vertebrae, syndromic causes, and ocular defects. Diagnosing these other causes of congenital torticollis requires careful examination, cervical X-ray, CT scan, and MRI. The objective of this review is to create an awareness of the different types and causes of cervical spinal deformity. It also confirms that it is easy to misdiagnose these rarer causes of congenital torticollis as seen in a clinical vignette of a newborn who was managed for CMT for about one year with physical therapy and later turned out to have an associated hemivertebrae and fusion of the second and third cervical vertebrae. It is rare but it has the burden of huge financial and psychosocial impact.