Surgical Morphometry of C1 and C2 Vertebrae: A Three-Dimensional Computed Tomography Analysis of 180 Chinese, Indian, and Malay Patients

STUDY DESIGN: Clinical imaging study.

PURPOSE: To study the surgical morphometry of C1 and C2 vertebrae in Chinese, Indian, and Malay patients.

OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: C1 lateral mass and C2 pedicle screw fixation is gaining popularity. However, there is a lack of C1-C2 morphometric data for the Asian population.

METHODS: Computed tomography analysis of 180 subjects (60 subjects each belonging to Chinese, Indian, and Malay populations) using simulation software was performed. Length and angulations of C1 lateral mass (C1LM) and C2 pedicle (C2P) screws were assessed.

RESULTS: The predicted C1LM screw length was between 23.2 and 30.2 mm. The safe zone of trajectories was within 11.0°±7.7° laterally to 29.1°±6.2° medially in the axial plane and 37.0°±10.2° caudally to 20.9°±7.8° cephalically in the sagittal plane. The shortest and longest predicted C2P screw lengths were 22.1±2.8 mm and 28.5±3.2 mm, respectively. The safe trajectories were from 25.1° to 39.3° medially in the axial plane and 32.3° to 45.9° cephalically in the sagittal plane.

CONCLUSIONS: C1LM screw length was 23-30 mm with the axial safe zone from 11° laterally to 29° medially and sagittal safe zone at 21° cephalically. C2P screw length was 22-28 mm with axial safe zone from 26° to 40° medially and sagittal safe zone from 32° to 46° cephalically. These data serve as an important reference for Chinese, Indian, and Malay populations during C1-C2 instrumentation.