A study of the Relationship between Foramen magnum and Atlas among adult Sudanese using Computed Tomography

Abstract

The foramen magnum as a transition area between skull and spine plays an important role as a landmark, because of its close relationship to vital structures such as the brain and spinal cord. The aim of this study was to study the relation between normal dimensions of foramen magnum and atlas among adult Sudanese for diagnosis of unexplained neck pain and abnormality of the foramen magnum and atlas. The study was conducted in Omdurman military hospital in the period from (May to December 2019). 100Adults Sudanese were enrolled in the study, length, width and shape of both foramen magnum and atlas were measured using CT Toshiba 64 machine measurements tools. The statistical analysis for sex comparison was made by Student’s t-test and was considered significant whenever P≤0.05. To determine the relationships between the studied parameters, Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated. The result of the study revealed that mean foramen magnum was 37.189 ± 2.995mm for length and 30.685±2.741 mm for width, the mean atlas foramen was (30.747±3.01 mm length and 28.474±2.849 mm width), and mean magnum/atlas ratio was (84.071±7.901 mm length and 93.223±9.958 mm width), there was no significant difference between male and female in the measurement of foramen magnum as well as magnum/atlas ratio, while male has greater atlas foramen length than female. The differences in measures (length and width) of magnum foramen, atlas foramen and magnum/atlas ratio in adults do not depend on The age and 5% of the sample the length of the foreman of the atlas is bigger than the length of the foreman magnum and18% of the sample the width of the foreman of the atlas is bigger than the width of the foreman magnum. Study recommend further studies in assessment of the shapes of foreman magnum and atlas in homogeneous nationalism determining which is suitable for the spinal cord when the measurement of foreman magnum is bigger than foreman of atlas and vice versa.