PMID- 21547425
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20120228
LR  - 20221207
IS  - 1279-8517 (Electronic)
IS  - 0930-1038 (Linking)
VI  - 33
IP  - 9
DP  - 2011 Nov
TI  - A three-dimensional study of the atlantodental interval in a normal Chinese 
      population using reformatted computed tomography.
PG  - 801-6
LID - 10.1007/s00276-011-0817-7 [doi]
AB  - The atlantodental interval has been usually used for the evaluation of 
      atlantoaxial instability. However, the asymmetry of the lateral atlantodental 
      interval is occasionally found in healthy individuals. Controversy therefore 
      exists as to the clinical significance of this asymmetry in patients after 
      trauma. The purpose of this study was to determine the normal range of 
      atlantodental intervals in normal individuals using reformatted computed 
      tomography. In this study, C1-C2 vertebrae were imaged in 230 adult patients by a 
      Lightspeed Vct CT (General Electric, CT, USA) with a slice thickness of 0.625 mm. 
      After reformatting the original images, the anterior atlantodental interval 
      (AADI) and lateral atlantodental interval (LADI) were measured. The AADI was 
      found to be 1.83 +/- 0.46 mm (0.9-3.4 mm) in males and 1.63 +/- 0.43 mm (0.5-3.2 mm) 
      in females. The AADI was significantly greater in males than in females (p < 
      0.05). The 95% confidence interval for AADI was 1.75-1.90 mm in males and 
      1.54-1.72 mm in females. No statistically significant differences were found 
      between males and females in the left and right LADI, and LADI asymmetry. The 
      left LADI was found to be 3.38 +/- 0.87 mm (1.7-6.0 mm), and the right LADI was 
      3.42 +/- 0.84 mm (1.7-5.9 mm) in males, while the left LADI was 3.30 +/- 0.73 mm 
      (1.5-5.3 mm) and the right LADI was 3.37 +/- 0.92 mm (1.7-5.9 mm) in females. The 
      95% confidence interval for left LADI was 3.23-3.52 and 2.94-3.25 mm, and for 
      right LADI was 3.27-3.56 and 3.18-3.56 mm in males and females, respectively. The 
      mean asymmetry of LADI was 0.76 +/- 0.66 mm (0.0-3.5 mm) in males and 0.73 +/- 0.70 
      mm (0.0-3.7 mm) in females. The 95% confidence interval for LADI asymmetry was 
      0.65-0.87 mm in males and 0.59-0.88 mm in females. Most of the population was 
      found to have an asymmetry ranging between 0.1 and 2.0 mm. The current study 
      shows that LADI asymmetry is common in patients without any cervical spine 
      abnormalities. LADI asymmetry may be a normal anatomic variant and there is no 
      evidence to confirm that LADI asymmetry is a sensitive or specific indicator of 
      traumatic atlantoaxial instability. Radiologists and clinicians should be aware 
      of this normal range of asymmetry when interpreting CT scans of the atlantoaxial 
      region.
FAU - Chen, Yuchun
AU  - Chen Y
AD  - Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Shantou 
      University Medical College, Shantou, 515041, Guangdong, China.
FAU - Zhuang, Zerui
AU  - Zhuang Z
FAU - Qi, Weili
AU  - Qi W
FAU - Yang, Haiying
AU  - Yang H
FAU - Chen, Zhenping
AU  - Chen Z
FAU - Wang, Xinjia
AU  - Wang X
FAU - Kong, Kangmei
AU  - Kong K
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20110506
PL  - Germany
TA  - Surg Radiol Anat
JT  - Surgical and radiologic anatomy : SRA
JID - 8608029
SB  - IM
MH  - Adult
MH  - *Asian People
MH  - Cervical Atlas/*diagnostic imaging
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - *Imaging, Three-Dimensional
MH  - Male
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Odontoid Process/*diagnostic imaging
MH  - Reference Values
MH  - *Tomography, X-Ray Computed
MH  - Young Adult
EDAT- 2011/05/07 06:00
MHDA- 2012/03/01 06:00
CRDT- 2011/05/07 06:00
PHST- 2010/11/09 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2011/04/25 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2011/05/07 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2011/05/07 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2012/03/01 06:00 [medline]
AID - 10.1007/s00276-011-0817-7 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Surg Radiol Anat. 2011 Nov;33(9):801-6. doi: 10.1007/s00276-011-0817-7. Epub 2011 
      May 6.