Jae Deok Han | 3 Articles |
(1) To present the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of congenital muscular torticollis (CMT) of subjects who underwent surgical release and subjects who showed a good prognosis with stretching exercises and (2) to correlate the MRI findings with the histopathologic findings of CMT for subjects who underwent surgical release in order to examine the hypothesis that the MRI findings of CMT can be used as a determinant to perform surgical release of CMT. The neck MRI findings of 33 subjects who underwent surgical release for CMT were compared with those of 18 subjects who were successfully managed only with conservative management. The MRI findings were correlated with the histopathologic sections of the CMT mass. All 33 subjects (100%) who underwent surgical release showed one or more low signal intensities within the involved sternocleidomastoid muscle (SCM) on the T1- and T2-weighted images of neck MRI. The eighteen non-surgical candidates showed only enlargement of the SCM without low signal intensity within the SCM. The histopathologic findings showed interstitial fibrosis and/or the presence of aberrant tendon-like excessive dense connective tissue that was either well-arranged or disorganized. The histopathologic findings and MRI findings showed good correlation in terms of the amount of fibrosis and aberrant dense connective tissue within the SCM. If multiple or large low signal intensities within the SCM are noted, we think that surgical release should be considered. Citations Citations to this article as recorded by
To compare the clinical severity of congenital muscular torticollis (CMT) based on the method of child birth. Children diagnosed with CMT and who were < 6-years-of-age at the time of their first visit at the Center for Torticollis, Ajou Medical Center, were included in this study. The medical records were retrospectively reviewed with reference to the method of child birth and the clinical severity of CMT. The clinical severity of CMT was determined either by whether stretching exercises were needed for the children <6-month-of-age or whether surgical release was required for the children ≥6-months-of-age at the time of the first visit. One hundred seventy eight subjects with CMT were enrolled. There was no significant difference in the rate of surgical release according to the method of child birth. For 132 patients <6-month-of-age there was also no significant difference in the rate of stretching exercises. There was no significant difference in the clinical severity of CMT based on the method of child birth. This finding suggests that prenatal factors alone could be a cause of CMT and that the clinical severity of CMT in children delivered by Cesarean section is not different when compared with the severity of CMT in children born through vaginal delivery. Citations Citations to this article as recorded by
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To examine whether the thickness of the sternocleidomastoid muscle (SCM) could be used as a prognostic factor for congenital muscular torticollis (CMT). This was a retrospective study conducted in a pediatric rehabilitation service at a tertiary medical center. Fifty-two children who met the following inclusion criteria were included: 1) children who were 3 month-old or younger, 2) children diagnosed with CMT, 3) passive rotation of the face toward the shoulder of the tilted side ≤60°, 4) children who had been managed according to the clinical pathway for CMT, 5) children who had been followed up for 6 months or more after the end of treatment. The duration and total number of stretching exercise sessions were reviewed with reference to the thickness of the SCM. Among the 52 children with CMT, 46 children were successfully managed with only stretching exercise of the SCM for 1-6 weeks (group 1: 88.5%) and 6 children were managed with botulinum toxin A injection, surgical release or both in addition to stretching exercise (group 2: 11.5%). The difference in the SCM thickness between the affected and normal sides was significantly greater in group 2 than that in group 1 (p=0.026). A strong correlation was found between the total duration of stretching exercise and the difference in the SCM thickness in group 1 (Pearson' γ=0.429; p=0.003). Children with a thicker SCM seem to require a longer duration of stretching exercise and other therapeutic interventions in addition to stretching exercise for CMT. Therefore, the thickness of the SCM may be one prognostic factor for CMT treatment. Citations Citations to this article as recorded by
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