title: Clinical assessment of atlantoaxial instability using the Sharp-Purser test.
abstract: Anterior atlantoaxial subluxation is common in rheumatoid arthritis patients with involvement of the cervical spine. Sharp and Purser have described a test for the clinical assessment of this instability. We assessed the validity of the Sharp-Purser test in 123 outpatients with rheumatoid arthritis. Our findings indicate a predictive value of 85% and a specificity of 96%. The sensitivity was 88% when subluxation was greater than 4 mm. Our results show that the Sharp-Purser test is a useful clinical examination to diagnose atlantoaxial instability.
authors.affiliation: Sinai Hospital of Detroit, Michigan 48235.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Uitvlugt
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Indenbaum
mesh_terms: D001268:Atlanto-Axial Joint; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D007593:Joint Instability / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011859:Radiography; D012219:Rheumatology / Q000379:methods*