Congrats to Sasi for winning this month’s CotM! Mona had the correct diagnosis in her differential but Sasi’s thorough explanation highlighted a lot of the important considerations we have to have when dealing with pediatric torticollis.
In summary: 7 y/o boy with acquired torticollis x 2 weeks. Preceded by a URI. No reported trauma. Had radiculopathy-like symptoms last week.
Decreased ROM on PE with muscle spasm on L, head tilt to the R, and some cervical LAD. No headaches, fevers, vomiting, or other complaints.
What should your workup entail?
So what does he have?
It is difficult to be certain on one diagnosis in this boy from just HPI and PE, but most of the above diagnoses in the differential will not cause radiculopathy unless there is involvement of the nerve roots (and likely the cervical spine). His preceding URI makes infectious etiologies a concern, however he clinically looks well and exam didn’t reveal anything overt. Can we combine our concerns for infection and cervical spine injury into one diagnosis? Yes we can, because this boy has Grisel’s Syndrome, otherwise known as nontraumatic atlantoaxial rotatory subluxation (AARS).
Believe it or not, pharyngeal surgery, inflammation of the neck, pharyngitis, or even a URI have been shown to cause C1-C2 subluxation. It occurs almost exclusively in the pediatric population and largely in school-age children. The current predominating theory is that inflammation or infection in the neck can travel via the vascular system of the ENT area through anastamoses with vessels surrounding the ligaments of C1 and C2. This inflammatory process causes hyperemia and a weakening of the stabilizing ligaments, allowing subluxation to occur. However, most clinicians and researchers will agree that we really don’t know how it occurs, only that these processes are somehow linked to ligamentous instability.
Another clue that we could probably never hang our hat on is which SCM has the muscle spasm. In contrast to muscular torticollis or dystonia, the spasmed SCM is opposite to the head tilt (the chin points toward the tight SCM). Think of it as the opposing SCM is trying to pull the tilted head back into position. CT of the neck will reveal the subluxation.
What is the management?
References:
Uptodate
Emedicine
Bocciolini, C., et al. Grisel’s syndrome: a rare complication following adenoidectomy. Acta Otorhinolaryngol Ital. 2005 Aug; 25(4): 245–249.
Herman, MJ. Torticollis in infants and children: common and unusual causes. Instr Course Lect. 2006;55:647-53.
James Hassel
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