A Case Report of Cervical Digit: Heterogeneous Condition

Introduction:A cervical digit is an extremely rare congenital anomaly and an isolated, benign condition. This report describes the age-related evolution of a cervical digit (digit-like bone posterior to the cervical spine) accompanied by malsegmentation of the cervical spine.

This is a follow-up study of a female infant with a cervical digit whose findings had been reported previously. The digit-like bone was articulated with the right posterior neural arch at C5. In addition, the right neural arches of C4, C5, and C6 were malsegmented. She was asymptomatic during her infancy; however, she slowly developed progressive restriction of neck movement beginning at 3 years of age. During her clinical course, she underwent three-dimensional computed tomography (CT) at ages 3 and 7 years, which revealed age-dependent morphological evolution of the malformation. CT demonstrated progressive ankylosis of the bilateral posterior arches of C4, C5, and C6. The cervical digit coalesced with the posterior neural arch at C5 and manifested as a bulky spinous process.

The morphological outcome was atypical compared with the typical manifestation of cervical digits, that is, only a supernumerary bone longitudinally oriented posterior to or attached to the spinous process.