Torticollis as the Presenting Sign in Cervical Spine Infection and Tumor

Abstract

This report presents five patients with cervical-area infection and four with spinal cord tumors who presented with torticollis early in the course of their illnesses. Three children were found to have osteomyelitis of the cervical spine; two, retropharyngeal abscess; two, intramedullary astrocytoma; one, extradural neuroblastoma; and one, extradural sarcoma. Though torticollis is most frequently a benign condition, its persistence or its association with other objective findings should lead to a search for an etiologic basis.