ABSTRACT

The cervical spine where not only loads the mass of the head but also makes the widest range of motion relative to the rest of the spine, plays an important role in influencing subjacent global spinal alignment and pelvic tilt as compensatory changes occur to maintain horizontal gaze. The management of complex cervical pathologies could be handled with understanding of cervical biomechanics as well as the normative data for cervical alignment.

The major parameters used to assess cervical spine alignment include Cobb angles, Jackson stress lines, and Harrison posterior tangent lines for sagittal curvature; gravity line or C-2 plumb line for sagittal vertical axis; and the Chin-Brow to vertical angle for horizontal gaze. Thoracic inlet angle, cervical tilt, neck tilt, and cranial tilt are new parameters that being discussed in the literature for cervical alignment.