www.e-neurospine.org 585 Basilar Invagination: Instability Is the Cause and Stabilization Is the Treatment Basilar invagination was for long considered to be a radiological curiosity rather than a surgically treatable clinical entity. Subsequently, for several years, including in our article dedicated to the subject in 1998, basilar invagination was associated with ‘fixed’ or ‘irreduc- ible’ atlantoaxial joint and decompression was considered to be the treatment.1 Depending on the direction of neural compression, anterior transoral odontoidectomy (group 1 basilar invagination) or posterior foramen magnum bone and/or dural decompression (group 2 basilar invagination) were the modalities of surgical treatment.1 In 2004, the possibility of reducing basilar invagination by atlantoaxial facetal distraction and achieving craniovertebral junction realignment revolutionized the treatment for basilar invagination.2 The concept was that basilar invagination (group A) is a result of ‘vertical’ spinal instability and the atlantoaxial facetal listhesis that eventually results in basilar invag- ination mimics lumbosacral listhesis.3 It was observed that in the entity of ‘fixed’ or ‘irreduc- ible’ atlantoaxial dislocation, atlantoaxial joint is actually not stable or fused but is an unsta- ble spinal segment and the joint in such cases is not only mobile but is pathologically hy- permobile and can be reduced by manual distraction of the facets. Since the introduction of this concept, a number of authors have resorted to attempts at reducing atlantoaxial in- stability and realigning craniovertebral junction and the authors recommending ‘decom- pression’ as a primary modality of surgical treatment is gradually but definitely reducing all over the world. Our studies identify muscle weakness related to disuse or injury as a nodal point of genesis of atlantoaxial instability and subsequent development of basilar invagina- tion. Ligamentous ‘stretch’ has not been identified to have a role in the pathogenesis of at- lantoaxial instability or of basilar invagination and anterior and/or posterior ‘release’ of ‘ten- sion bands’ ligaments or muscle groups by sectioning has not been identified to have a place in the surgical treatment. Since 1988, our technique of atlantoaxial fixation involves opening of the atlantoaxial joint, denuding the articular cartilage and introduction of bone graft within the articular cavity prior to lateral mass instrumentation.4,5 All these principle surgical steps are essential in achieving strong atlantoaxial arthrodesis. In 2004, we introduced intra-articular metal spacers to facilitate and sustain facetal distraction in cases with basilar invagination, rotato- ry dislocation, and irreducible and even reducible atlantoaxial dislocation.2,6-8 As the experi- ence has increased, it is now realized that distraction of the facets of atlas and axis and pack- ing of bone graft in the articular cavity can lay a ground for solid bone arthrodesis and the reliance on intra-articular facetal implant can be reduced if not entirely avoided. Whilst the metal implants provides for stability, bone graft provides for fusion of the facets and also sustains stability-immobility and distraction.9 As the experience in surgically managing Neurospine eISSN 2586-6591 pISSN 2586-6583 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (https://creativecom- mons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Copyright © 2020 by the Korean Spinal Neurosurgery Society Editorial Corresponding Author Atul Goel https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5224-6414 Department of Neurosurgery, K.E.M. Hospital and Seth G.S. Medical College, Parel, Mumbai-400012, India E-mail: atulgoel62@hotmail.com See the article “Quantitative Reduction of Basilar Invagination With Atlantoaxial Dislocation by a Posterior Approach” via https://doi.org/10.14245/ns.2040496.248. Neurospine 2020;17(3):585-587. https://doi.org/10.14245/ns.2040522.261 Basilar InvaginationGoel A https://doi.org/10.14245/ns.2040522.261586 www.e-neurospine.org basilar invagination has increased, it now appears that more than ‘realignment’ of the craniovertebral junction, it is firm sta- bilization of the atlantoaxial segment that is necessary.10-12 Chronic or longstanding atlantoaxial instability is associated with a host of ‘secondary’ musculoskeletal and neural ‘altera- tions.’ Musculoskeletal alterations include a number of mor- phological changes that include platybasia, Klippel-Feil abnor- mality, assimilation of atlas, bifid arch of atlas and C2–3 fusion and neural alterations that include Chiari formation and syrin- gomyelia.13-15 The term ‘basilar invagination’ in general is an umbrella term that includes a range of alterations. Short neck, torticollis, short spine and dorsal kyphoscoliosis are external manifestations of basilar invagination. All the secondary mani- festations are natural protective maneuvers. More importantly, it was identified that all the secondary musculoskeletal and neural alterations when present in a consort or in isolation in- dicate the presence of atlantoaxial instability and are reversible following atlantoaxial fixation. The fact that there can be dislo- cation of the atlantoaxial joint even in the absence of any altera- tion in atlantodental interval or any dural or neural compres- sion by the odontoid process promises a fresh understanding of the entire subject.16 Such form of dislocation was labeled as ‘central’ or ‘axial’ atlantoaxial dislocation and was diagnosed on the basis of alignment of facets on sagittal imaging with the head in neutral position and was confirmed on direct bone ma- nipulation during the surgical procedure.17 Atlantoaxial stabili- zation forms the basis of treatment. Although our articles were amongst the first that suggested suitability of occipital screws, we have currently abandoned inclusion of occipital bone in the fixation construct and identify segmental atlantoaxial fixation- arthrodesis as optimum surgical treatment.3,18 REFERENCES 1. Goel A, Bhatjiwale M, Desai K. Basilar invagination: a study based on 190 surgically treated cases. J Neurosurg 1998;88: 962-8. 2. Goel A. Treatment of basilar invagination by atlantoaxial joint distraction and direct lateral mass fixation. J Neuro- surg Spine 2004;1:281-6. 3. Kothari M, Goel A. Transatlantic odonto-occipital Listhesis: the so-called basilar invagination. Neurol India 2007;55:6-7. 4. Goel A, Laheri VK. Plate and screw fixation for atlanto-axial dislocation. Acta Neurochir (Wien) 1994;129:47-53. 5. Goel A, Desai K, Muzumdar D. Atlantoaxial fixation using plate and screw method: a report of 160 treated patients. Neu- rosurgery 2002;51:1351-7. 6. Goel A. Atlantoaxial joint jamming as a treatment for atlan- toaxial dislocation: a preliminary report. Technical note. J Neurosurg Spine 2007;7:90-4. 7. Goel A, Kulkarni AG, Sharma P. Reduction of fixed atlanto- axial dislocation in 24 cases: technical note. J Neurosurg Spine 2005;2:505-9. 8. Goel A, Shah A. Atlantoaxial facet locking: treatment by facet manipulation and fixation. Experience in 14 cases. J Neurosurg Spine 2011;14:3-9. 9. Goel A, Jain S, Shah A. Radiological evaluation of 510 cases of basilar invagination with evidence of atlantoaxial instabil- ity (group a basilar invagination). World Neurosurg 2018; 110:533-43. 10. Goel A. Instability and basilar invagination. J Craniovertebr Junction Spine 2012;3:1-2. 11. Goel A, Nadkarni T, Shah A, et al. Radiologic evaluation of basilar invagination without obvious atlantoaxial instability (group b basilar invagination): analysis based on a study of 75 patients. World Neurosurg 2016;95:375-82. 12. Goel A, Sathe P, Shah A. Atlantoaxial fixation for basilar in- vaginationwithout obvious atlantoaxial instability (group b basilar invagination): outcome analysis of 63 surgically treat- ed cases. World Neurosurg 2017;99:164-70. 13. Goel A, Shah A. Reversal of longstanding musculoskeletal changes in basilar invagination after surgical decompression and stabilization. J Neurosurg Spine 2009;10:220-7. 14. Goel A. Is atlantoaxial instability the cause of Chiari malfor- mation? Outcome analysis of 65 patients treated by atlanto- axial fixation. J Neurosurg Spine 2015;22:116-27. 15. Shah A, Sathe P, Patil M, et al. Treatment of “idiopathic” syr- inx by atlantoaxial fixation: report of an experience with nine cases. J Craniovertebr Junction Spine 2017;8:15-21. 16. Goel A. Short neck, short head, short spine, and short body height - Hallmarks of basilar invagination. J Craniovertebr Junction Spine 2017;8:165-7. 17. Goel A. Goel’s classification of atlantoaxial ‘facetal’ disloca- tion. J Craniovertebr Junction Spine 2014;5:15-9. 18. Goel A. Occipitocervicalfixation: is it necessary? J Neuro- surg Spine 2010;13:1-2. Basilar InvaginationGoel A https://doi.org/10.14245/ns.2040522.261 www.e-neurospine.org 587 Title: Mother and Child Artist: Pablo Picasso Year: 1921 © 2020 - Succession Pablo Picasso - SACK (Korea)