Shape Of Cervical Vertebrae Research Articles

Evaluation of age variation changes in cervical vertebrae: 2-Dimensional (2D) geometric morphometrics approach

Age estimation in adults is a complicated task because of various external factors occur concurrently with increasing age. The geometric morphometric method (GMM) is an approach that focuses on shape analysis and is widely recognized for its high reliability and reproducibility. The aim of this study was to explore the variation of cervical vertebrae among different age groups of the Malaysian population by GMM. Lateral skull radiographs of 432 subjects comprising four adult age groups; young adult age group (20–30 years old), early middle age group (31–40 years old), late middle age group (41–50 years old) and, elder adult age group (51–60 years old) were selected. Fifty-three 2-dimensional (2D) landmarks were applied to the digitalized radiographs by TPSDig2 (Version 2.31) software. Geometric morphometric analysis was performed by MorphoJ software. Results showed that the first three principal components (PC) contributed to 47.71 % of the cervical vertebrae variation and were shown in both lollipop and wireframe graphs. Procrustes ANOVA indicated that the shape was significantly different among different age groups. Canonical variate analysis revealed significant differences of both mahalanobis and procrustes distances among age groups with substantial individual overlap within groups. Discriminant function analysis (DFA) showed a correct classification rate for 61.5 % of cases respective to age groups. In conclusion, this study found significant differences in the shape of cervical vertebrae among different age groups of the Malaysian population using the GMM.

Short-term effects of low-level laser versus ultrasound therapy on children’s neck posture after long-term use of electronic devices

The purpose of the study was to compare the effect of low-level laser therapy (LLLT), ultrasound therapy (US), and strengthening and stretching exercise in children diagnosed with cervical straightening caused by long-term use of electronic devices. A total of 60 patients from 12 to 18 years of both gender diagnosed with straight neck syndrome which is losing the normal C shape of cervical vertebrae. Patients were randomized into three groups. In group A, patients received LLLT plus exercise, while in group B, they received US plus exercise, and group C received exercise. In group A and B, Cobb angle and VAS showed a significant improvement (more significant in group A) with P < 0.001, while in group C P = 0.006. LLLT, US, and exercise improved the cervical straight curve, and reduced pain with maximum effect was done by LLLT.

Predictive accuracy of estimating mandibular growth potential by regression equation using cervical vertebral bone age.

Introduction:The maturational changes both in size and shape of cervical vertebrae had been widely used not only to assess skeletal maturity but also to predict the same using regression equation. Thus, the aim of this cross-sectional study was to check the predictive accuracy of estimating mandibular growth potential in the North Indian population by regression equation of Mito et al.Materials and Methods:A total of 200 subjects divided into two groups, Group I had 100 adult subjects (18–20 years) and Group II had 100 young subjects (9–14 years) were subdivided according to the gender (50 subjects in each group). Seven linear parameters on cervical vertebral bodies of C3 and C4 were measured to derive cervical vertebral age and applied to the regression equation to estimate the mandibular growth potential in Group II. The mandibular length was measured for both the groups from Co-Gn. The mean value of the actual mandibular length in Group I was statistically evaluated against the corresponding mean value of the predicted mandibular growth potential of Group II.Results:The actual mandibular length (Group I) and calculated mandibular length obtained by adding mandibular growth potential (from regression equation) to the mandibular length of Group II did not differ significantly for both males and females. Chronological age showed a statistically significant difference and poor correlation with bone age, in Group II.Conclusion:The regression equation of Mito et al. using cervical vertebral bone age has proven to be applicable and accurate in predicting mandibular growth potential in growing young Indian individuals and can be of diagnostic and prognostic value in growth modification procedures in Orthodontics.

Residents' journal review

Residents' journal review

Craniofacial growth spurt in Class I subjects.

The objective was to study the growth spurt of Class I subjects, focusing on the ability to predict the peak of the growth spurt of the maxillary (Co-A) and mandibular (Co-Pog) lengths from the maturational changes of the cervical vertebrae. The longitudinal lateral cephalographs of 14 males (ages, 10-15years) and 12 females (ages, 9-14years) were selected from the Craniofacial Growth Studies Legacy Collection of the American Association of Orthodontists Foundation. The cephalographs were taken at regular 1-year intervals. A cervical vertebral maturation (CVM) method that divided skeletal maturation into 6 stages was used for growth prediction. Growth increments calculated for the annual age intervals were used to examine the diagnostic performance of the CVM method. In males, the most peaks for Co-Pog were detected in the CVM3-CVM4 interval in 7 males (50%); for Co-A, the most peaks were found in the CVM2-CVM3 interval in 7 males (50%). In females, the most peaks for both Co-Pog and Co-A were seen in the CVM2-CVM3 interval in 7 females (58%) and in 6 females (50%), respectively. The fewest peaks were detected in CVM4-CVM5 for both males and females. In Class I subjects with balanced anteroposterior jaw relationships, presence of CVM3 would indicate the peak of the growth spurt, and CVM2 would mean that the peak has not yet arrived. During CVM2, the shapes of cervical vertebrae 3 and 4, whether trapezoid or horizontal rectangular, would indicate whether the subject is in the early CVM2 or is about to be in CVM3.

Cercopithecoid cervical vertebral morphology and implications for the presence of Theropithecus in early Pleistocene Europe

While it is recognized that the overall configuration of the vertebral column, as well as the size and shape of individual vertebrae, differ within and between primate taxa, relatively little is known about the degree to which vertebral morphology reflects a phylogenetic signal or the degree to which vertebral elements can be used in accurate taxonomic classification. Isolated vertebrae are occasionally found in fossil assemblages, and proper taxonomic identification is necessary to make inferences about the animal's biology and place it in a broader phylogenetic and evolutionary context. Recently, three large primate cervical vertebrae (C3, C5, and C6) from Pirro Nord, Italy (early Pleistocene, late Villafranchian) were attributed to the genus Theropithecus based on size comparisons with extant cercopithecoid primates (Rook et al., 2004, J. Hum. Evol. 47, 267–277). These fossils were suggested to indicate an early dispersal of this genus out of Africa around 1.6–1.3 Ma possibly co-incident with early Pleistocene dispersals of Homo. Because of the potential importance of these fossils for interpreting Theropithecus evolution and the relatively few morphological data on primate cervical vertebral morphology, we examined the size and shape of cervical vertebrae in a large sample of extant cercopithecoid taxa ( n = 106). Specifically, we evaluated whether subfamily and genus level assignments can be made on the basis of isolated cervical elements. Discriminant analyses reveal that scaled shape variables are good discriminators of taxonomic affinity at the subfamily level but are poor discriminators at the genus level. Least-squares regressions show that raw linear dimensions of cervical vertebral morphology are good predictors of body mass in the extant sample. Our regression results produce a likely body mass estimate of 22–38 kg for the Pirro Nord cervical vertebrae. Based on these regression estimates, the poor ability to discriminate cervical vertebrae at the genus level, and paleoenvironmental reconstructions of Pirro Nord, it is unlikely that the Pirro Nord fossils can be confidently attributed to the genus Theropithecus. These findings have important implications for recent interpretations of the nature of Theropithecus dispersal out of Africa.

A Response to Hugh M. Davidson's Paper

W HATEVER ODD READINGS on seventeenth-century literature and culture I may have done since I was a student and read Pascal to fathom the double infinity of my ignorance and presumption, a particularly pernicious series of particles had previously shaped my cultural DNA: the physically imperative division of French literature into fat, glossy, and lavishly illustrated hardspined volumes corresponding to hermetically sealed periods, at the hands of the mighty and diabolical couple of editors known as Lagarde et Michard, impressed the self-contained and undisturbable nature of centuries upon my youthful mind with a devastating effect, comparable only to that of the New England Primer on men and women of American culture. Their highly profitable and imperial knife tended to do to literary periods what a later and no less sinister one did one day in the late eighteenth century to the neck of Louis XVI; the zeroes coupled and hitched to the double-digit figures 16, 17, 18, and 19 did not so much turn them into 1600, 1700, 1800, and 1900 as gruesomely evoke the circular shapes of cervical vertebrae about to be severed. Scarron, Mme de Lafayette, Monsieur de Louvois, la Marquise de Sevigne, and the Cardinal de Retz stayed snugly this side of the blade, Mile de Scudery and Jean de Segrais lost only a few hairs by dying in 1701, but Fenelon and Coulanges, having outlasted the welcome of the third volume by fifteen and sixteen years always failed to make a convincing comeback. The windows opened for our intimidated eyes onto the splendors of past literature had trouble with their hinges. In other words, if anyone was surprised by Professor Davidson's conclusions on the harmony of the period, I could not be that person and, from his title, I anticipated his final lines with the alacrity and eagerness with which a hedgehog greets the arrival at his door of his favorite Fuller Brush man. What I was far less ready for and less willing to accept, however, was what came between the title and the conclusion to inform that conclusion.