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An infant''s (between ages 0 and 2) spine differs from adults because of the mobility and elasticity from underdevelopment of the neck muscles, incompletely calcified, wedge-shaped vertebrae and shallow, horizontally oriented spine joints. Although pediatric CNS injuries are not suffered as frequently as other age groups, injuries to the pediatric spine are not rare. Overall incidence of pediatric spine trauma within the overall spinal injuries population varies between one and 11 percent, depending upon the study looked at.
Due to the absence of a standardized nationwide database for CNS injuries, it is difficult to know what the exact impact different types of CNS injuries have, as well as to create a better understanding of the injuries and disease process. Spinal cord injury as the result of birth related trauma is believed vastly underdiagnosed and underreported. Some experts believe the failure to diagnose types of CNS injuries as a result of birth trauma is because of the lack of radiographic findings seen in most instances.
Spinal cord injuries because of birth injuries most often affect the upper cervical spine or cervicothoracic junction, though any part of the spinal cord can become injured. There are certain predisposing conditions that increase risk of suffering types of CNS injuries because of a birth injury. In the majority of birth injury cases, two thirds of the infants have breech presentation and a third will be accompanied by cephalic presentation or transverse lie. Birth trauma involving spinal cord trauma has been suffered with a variety of factors present including mechanical repositioning, breech presentation and forceps extraction.
If a spinal cord birth injury is suffered, mortality is high and any survivors normally have a poor prognosis. It is important to immediately diagnose types of CNS injuries so that treatment can also immediately begin. The delay in both a diagnosis and treatment method will only reduce the likelihood that the infant will survive or reduce the ability to best achieve rehabilitation.