ATLANTOAXIAL INSTABILITY (AAI) - AN UPDATE REGARDING THERAPYAND PROGNOSIS

摘要

The atlantoaxial instability / subluxation is a congenital - in some cases also acquired -disease, which leads to the impairment of the spinal cord between the first two cervical vertebrae (1,2).Anatomically there is no intervertebral disc located in between those two adjacent vertebrae. The Dens axis is connected to the Atlas through the transverse ligament (pink), the apical ligament (light blue), and the paired alar ligaments (blue). As the name already suggests, the dorsal atlantoaxial ligament (red) runs dorsally in between the spinous process oft the axis and the dorsal arch of the atlas. A new biomechanical study in dogs has shown that the alar ligaments are the most important ligamentsfor stabilization of the atlanto axial joint whilst under the impact of shear force.