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The Odontoid Process

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The Chiari Malformations

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Abstract

The odontoid process was once thought to be a displaced body of the atlas but is now believed to have separated from the anterior part of the atlas between the sixth and seventh week of gestation and to have migrated caudally to fuse with the body of the axis. The fully formed odontoid process is toothlike/peg shaped with a curved superior surface and deviates slightly to the left or right in approximately 14–26% of the population. The odontoid may also be retroflexed, and this has been found to be more common in individuals with the Chiari I malformation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA

    R. Shane Tubbs

  2. Department of Neurosurgery and Ochsner Neuroscience Institute, Ochsner Health System, New Orleans, LA, USA

    R. Shane Tubbs

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  1. R. Shane Tubbs
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA

    R. Shane Tubbs

  2. Department of Neurosurgery, Aydın Adnan Menderes University School of Medicine, Efeler, Aydın, Turkey

    Mehmet Turgut

  3. Departments of Neurosurgery and Pediatrics, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, USA

    W. Jerry Oakes

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Tubbs, R.S. (2020). The Odontoid Process. In: Tubbs, R., Turgut, M., Oakes, W. (eds) The Chiari Malformations. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44862-2_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44862-2_9

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-44861-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-44862-2

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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