Cumhuriyet Dental Journal (Feb 2015)
The assessment of cervical vertebral anomalies on lateral cephalograms and cone-beam computed tomographs
Abstract
Objectives: The aims of this study were (1) to determine the occurrence of cervical vertebral anomaly in the selected population, (2) to evaluate the reliability of the findings obtained from lateral cephalograms. For this purpose, the lateral cephalogram findings were compared with those obtained from cone beam computed tomography (CBCT).Subjects and Methods: A sample of 123 subjects who had both lateral cephalogram and CBCT were comprised from the archive. Only the subjects with images presenting the first four cervical vertebrae were included; thus 25 subjects (14 female, 11 male) formed the study group. Normal appearance was determined when the first four vertebrae could be traced as separate entities, with all anatomical components present. Characteristics of the cervical column were classified according to Sandham as posterior arch deficiencies (PAD) and fusions.Results: The lateral cephalogram findings of the 25 subjects revealed an occurrence of 16% for fusion and an occurrence of 20% for PAD. However, none of these findings were confirmed by the evaluation of CBCT images.Conclusions: The occurrence of cervical vertebral anomalies was zero in the evaluated orthodontic population. Our findings suggest that the evaluation of two-dimensional radiographs for the diagnosis of cervical vertebral anomalies was not a reliable method
