Comparison of Clinical Severity of Congenital Muscular Torticollis Based on the Method of Child Birth

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical severity of congenital muscular torticollis (CMT) based on the method of child birth. METHOD: Children diagnosed with CMT and who were or =6-months-of-age at the time of the first visit. RESULTS: One hundred seventy eight subjects with CMT were enrolled. There was no significant difference in the rate of surgical release according to the method of child birth. For 132 patients <6-month-of-age there was also no significant difference in the rate of stretching exercises. CONCLUSION: There was no significant difference in the clinical severity of CMT based on the method of child birth. This finding suggests that prenatal factors alone could be a cause of CMT and that the clinical severity of CMT in children delivered by Cesarean section is not different when compared with the severity of CMT in children born through vaginal delivery.