Platybasia is a spinal disease of a malformed relationship between the
occipital bone
The occipital bone () is a cranial dermal bone and the main bone of the occiput (back and lower part of the skull). It is trapezoidal in shape and curved on itself like a shallow dish. The occipital bone overlies the occipital lobes of the c ...
and
cervical spine
In tetrapods, cervical vertebrae (singular: vertebra) are the vertebrae of the neck, immediately below the skull. Truncal vertebrae (divided into thoracic and lumbar vertebrae in mammals) lie caudal (toward the tail) of cervical vertebrae. In sa ...
.
It may be caused by
Paget's disease. Platybasia is also a feature of
Gorlin-Goltz syndrome, commonly known as basal cell nevus syndrome.
It may be developmental in origin or due to softening of the
skull base bone, allowing it to be pushed upward. The developmental variant is the result of a wider angle between the skull base of the frontal or anterior fossa and the clivus, which defines the anterior wall of the posterior fossa. It is sometimes associated with other congenital abnormalities of the bone structure, such as fusion of the first cervical vertebrae to the skull
atlas assimilation.
Further reading
*
* Virchow R. Untersuchungen über die Entwicklung des Schädelgrundes. Berlin, Reimer, 1856
External links
Congenital disorders of musculoskeletal system
{{musculoskeletal-disease-stub