Tears of the transverse ligament of the atlas. A clinical and biomechanical study.

In a biomechanical-clinical study of the strength of the atlanto-axial ligament, results from laboratory testing of twenty autopsy specimens were correlated with the results in a clinical series of eleven patients with traumatic transverse ligament rupture and anterior subluxation of the atlas on the axis. When possible, surgical fusion of the atlanto-axial joint is conservative treatment for anterior displacement of the first cervical vertebra on the second.