Revista de columna vertebral y neurocirugía

Surgical Management of an Elderly Patient with Free Floating Os Odontoideum

Abolfazl Rahimizadeh, Walter L Williamson, Shaghayegh Rahimizadeh and Mahan Amirzadeh

Os odontoideum (OO) is defined as an ossicle with smooth circumferential cortical margins representing the odontoid process that has no osseous continuity with the body of the C2 vertebrae. This pathology usually becomes symptomatic in the second or third decade of life. Middle-age individuals display the second highest incidence. However, the discovery of an OO in elderly individuals over the age of 67 years is rather scarce and has been confined to only 11 recorded cases. Here in the authors present a new symptomatic patient possessing an OO who is elderly.