Frequency of Ponticulus Posticus in Lateral Cephalometric Radiography of Peruvian Patients

Abstract

SUMMARY:The Ponticulus posticus is an anomalous ossification of unknown origin that arches backward from the superior articular process to the posterior arch of the Atlas vertebra, it can be complete or partial and houses vascular and nervous elements; it is diagnosed by lateral cervical radiography, cephalometric radiography or CT scans. The purpose for the present study was to determine the frequency of partial and complete Ponticulus posticus in lateral cephalometric radiography of Peruvian patients and identify any possible genre or age group associations. The study consisted in reviewing 1056 lateral cephalometric radiography of patients between 3-56 years old in search of partial or complete Ponticulus posticus. The mean age of subjects studied was 14.05±7.43 years old. The Ponticulus posticus frequency was 19.79%, the partial Ponticulus posticus frequency was 11.08% and the complete Ponticulus posticus frequency was 8.71%; Cramer´s V and ETA statistics found not significant association between the PP and the genre or the age groups (p>0.05). The Ponticulus posticus is not an infrequent radiographic finding, our results are similar to those reported in the Americas and similar to different for other ethnic groups, we confirm that the Ponticulus posticus is not associated with genre or age and we reviewed the importance of the Ponticulus posticus in the prognosis of the Atlas-Axis surgical stabilization.

Frequency of Ponticulus Posticus, Sella Turcica Bridge and Clinoid Enlargement in Cleft Lip and Palate Peruvian Patients: A Comparative Study with Non-Cleft Patients

“…The criteria for determining the PP, STB and CLEN were the same utilized in previous publications (Pérez et al, 2013(Pérez et al, , 2014: with the samples of the studies of PP, STB and CLEN realized in non-cleft Peruvian patients.…”

“…The frequencies of Ponticulus Posticus (complete and partial) in the Atlas vertebrae; the Sella Turcica Bridge and the Clinoid Enlargement in Peruvians were determined in two distinct studies (Pérez et al, 2013(Pérez et al, , 2014; those frequencies and the samples where they come from could be utilized as control groups that can be matched with other samples of patients with specific conditions such as Cleft lip and palate.…”

“…The samples utilized to determine the frequency of PP and STB-CLEN (Pérez et al, 2013(Pérez et al, , 2014 were used as control groups to compare the frequencies of PP and STB-CLEN between CLP and non-CLP patients. The PP controls were composed of 1056 lateral cephalometric radiography, 56.7% of female and 43.3% of male; the age range was 3-56 years with a mean and standard deviation of 14.05±7.43 years; the STB-CLEN controls were composed of 417 lateral cephalometric radiography, 57.3% of female and 42.7% of male; the age range was 5 -53 years with a mean and standard deviation of 14.73±7.83.…”

Ponticulus Posticus: Is It Important for a Dentist as an Radiological Finding?

“…19 This bony arch is known as the PP 17 and is often bilateral 20 and can be divided into two types: partial (incomplete) and complete (Figure 2 and 3). 10,21 It was first reported by MacAlister 22 in 1893. Young et al 14 reported that putting a screw into PP during C1 lateral mass screw placement could cause injury to the vertebral artery.…”

“…The PP means "little posterior bridge" in Latin 3,6,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] which describes an anomalous malformed bony bridge between the posterior portion of the superior articular process and the posterolateral portion of the superior margin of the posterior arch of the atlas. 9 The normal atlas ( Figure 1) is a ring-like structure consisting of two lateral masses connected by a short anterior arch and a longer posterior arch.…”