title: The prevalence of nonmuscular causes of torticollis in children.
abstract: Torticollis in children may result from a wide variety of pathologic processes. We retrospectively analyzed 288 patients seen in a tertiary care pediatric orthopedic facility for the evaluation of torticollis over a 10-year period to ascertain the frequency of nonmuscular causes of this condition. Fifty-three of these children (18.4% of the study population) had a nonmuscular etiology for their torticollis. Of these 53 patients, Klippel-Feil anomalies were present in 16 (30%), and an underlying neurologic disorder was present in 27 (51%). These neurologic conditions included ocular disorders in 12 (23%) patients, brachial plexus palsies in nine (17%) patients, and lesions involving the central nervous system in six (11%) patients. We conclude that nonmuscular causes of torticollis are collectively not rare. In a child without an identifiable muscular etiology for torticollis, Klippel-Feil anomalies or an underlying neurologic disorder is likely to be the cause of the deformity in the majority of patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Orthopedics and Scoliosis Surgery, Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, Dallas, USA.
authors.forename: R T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Ballock
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012600:Scoliosis / Q000150:complications; D014103:Torticollis / Q000209:etiology*