Cervical synostosis associated with Down's syndrome and Schneider syndrome. Clinical and medico-legal implications of an autopsy case

Abstract This paper reviews the association of clinical symptoms and their clinical and forensic implications in a patient with Down's syndrome and congenital cervical synostosis who experienced a traumatic spinal cord injury. To date, no prevalent association between Down's syndrome and cervical synostosis has been reported in the literature. Given that both entities are prone to cause degenerative or traumatic cervical myelopathy, the combination of both conditions must be seen as a risk factor for spontaneous, and particularly traumatic, spinal cord damage. In these cases, radiological examination must be exhaustive, including MRI, given the possibility of spinal cord injury even after minimal trauma. In the event of death, spinal cord autopsy is mandatory as it may reveal subclinical lesions, clarify the nature and extension of the spinal cord and skeletal injuries and help to establish an improved anatomo-clinical correlation.