• Tsutomu Inaoka, Kenjirou Ohashi, and Georges Y El-Khoury.
• Department of Radiology, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, 200 Hawkins Drive, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA. tsutomu-inaoka@uiowa.edu
• Emerg Radiol. 2007 Jul 1; 14 (3): 191-4.

AbstractAtlas fractures commonly present more than two breaks in its ring structure because of the unique anatomy and the mechanism of injury. The incidence of a single break in the atlas ring is exceedingly rare. However, we encountered two cases of a single fracture of the atlas. One patient was struck by a falling tree on the right side of the head and the other was involved in a motor vehicle accident. Radiographs of the cervical spine failed to show a single fracture or other abnormalities. Computed tomography demonstrated the single fracture. The patients were treated conservatively with a cervical collar, and they both recovered completely. In this article, we present two cases of a single fracture of the atlas with a review of the literature.

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