A case of atlas assimilation: description of bony and soft structures.
A case of atlas assimilation revealed during serial study of suboccipital region is presented. The specimen was harvested from the body of 31-year-old woman. Images of the computed tomography scans are correlated with classic dissection. Asymmetrical bony assimilation is accompanied by asymmetrical development of the suboccipital musculature. In the presented case, the atlantic segments of both vertebral arteries preserved their usual course between bony elements derived from the atlas and proatlas. Development of the soft tissues must be influenced by similar factors as development of the skeleton. Detailed radiologic studies, possibly with volumetric reconstructions, are necessary in cases of atlas assimilation before surgical interventions in the region of craniovertebral junction.
Department of Descriptive and Clinical Anatomy, Centre of Biostructure Research, Medical University of Warsaw, Chałubińskiego 5, 02-004, Warsaw, Poland, maciej.ciolkowski@wum.edu.pl.
Maciej K
MK
Ciołkowski
Paweł
P
Krajewski
Bogdan
B
Ciszek
D000328:Adult; D001344:Autopsy; D002102:Cadaver; D001270:Cervical Atlas / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D009777:Occipital Bone / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014711:Vertebral Artery / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging