Omovertebral bone causing traumatic compression of the cervical spinal cord and acute neurological deficits in a patient with Sprengel's deformity and Klippel-Feil syndrome: case report

Transmandibular Cervical Corpectomy for Persistent Spinal Cord Compression in a Patient With Klippel-Feil Syndrome: A Technical Note and Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

Few studies have described a transmandibular approach for decompression in a patient with Klippel-Feil syndrome (KFS) for cervical myelopathy.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the transmandibular approach in a KFS patient with cervical myelopathy and to perform a systematic review according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses.

METHODS

A systematic review was performed using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Embase and PubMed databases were searched from January 2002 to November 2022 for articles examining patients with KFS undergoing cervical decompression and/or fusion for cervical myelopathy and/or radiculopathy were included. Articles describing compression due to nonbony causes, lumbar/sacral surgery, nonhuman studies, or symptoms only from basilar invagination/impression were excluded. Data collected were sex, median age, Samartzis type, surgical approach, and postoperative complications.

RESULTS

A total of 27 studies were included, with 80 total patients. Thirty-three patients were female, and the median age ranged from 9 to 75 years. Forty-nine patients, 16 patients, and 13 patients were classified as Samartzis Types I, II, and III, respectively. Forty-five patients, 21 patients, and 6 patients underwent an anterior, posterior, and combined approach, respectively. Five postoperative complications were reported. One article reported a transmandibular approach for access to the cervical spine.

CONCLUSION

Patients with KFS are at risk of developing cervical myelopathy. Although KFS manifests heterogeneously and may be treated through a variety of approaches, some manifestations of KFS may preclude traditional approaches for decompression. Surgical exposure through the anterior mandible may prove an option for cervical decompression in patients with KFS.

Report of two cases with omovertebral bone and Klippel-Feil syndrome with craniovertebral junction instability

We present a report of two patients having the association of omovertebra, Sprengel's deformity of the shoulder and Klippel–Feil abnormality with craniovertebral junctional instability. Our literature survey did not locate any report of such association. Significance of bone alterations is analyzed. Two young patients presented with neck pain, torticollis, webbed neck, and spastic quadriparesis. In both patients, the investigations revealed basilar invagination, Klippel–Feil abnormality and Sprengel's deformity of the shoulder. Apart from these relatively common associations, both the patients had omovertebral bone that extended from the transverse process of C5 vertebra to scapula. Following atlantoaxial stabilization surgery, the patients rapidly recovered from all symptoms. Musculoskeletal abnormalities at the craniovertebral junction that include Klippel–Feil abnormality, Sprengel's shoulder, and omovertebra are secondary alterations to primary atlantoaxial instability.