title: Surface area congruence of atlas superior articulating facets and occipital condyles.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to compare the surface areas of 12 atlanto-occipital joints from 6 cadavers to determine how well their ipsilateral and contralateral surface areas matched.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three methods were used. Method 1 consisted of digitized photographs downloaded to the Able Image Analyser software program (Ljubljana, Slovenia; http://able.mulabs.com). The perimeters were measured and expressed as square millimeters. Method 2 consisted of a point count method using moulds of the joint surfaces produced by pressing aluminum paper, leaving a clear imprint for analysis. Method 3 consisted of drawing outlines of the molds from method 2 onto transparencies and assessing overlap.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Method 1 showed a moderate correlation of matched articular surfaces between the left C1 superior articulating surface and the left condyle (r = 0.573, P = .01). Method 2 showed moderate correlations between all surface areas that were analyzed. The matched pairs compared were left C1 superior articulating surface and left condyle (r = 0.588, P = .01) and right C1 and right condyle (r = 0.730, P = .001). The contralateral surfaces correlated were left C1 and right C1 (r = 0.596, P = .009) and right condyle and left condyle (r = 0.769, P = .000). Method 3 showed no statistically significant differences between surface areas.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  All 3 methods revealed that the articular surfaces of the atlas and corresponding or contralateral condyle for specimens used in this study were not an exact match.
authors.affiliation: Research Associate, Sherman College of Straight Chiropractic (SCSC), Spartanburg, SC 29304.
authors.forename: Lafayette
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Briggs
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hart
authors.forename: Mercy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Navis
authors.forename: Sheldon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Clayton
authors.forename: Ralph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Boone
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