Sternocleidomastoid pseudotumor and congenital muscular torticollis in infants: a prospective study of 510 cases.

OBJECTIVES

Congenital muscular torticollis is a common and controversial condition in infancy. We studied prospectively a group of infants with clearly defined sternomastoid tumor treated with a well-defined protocol.

STUDY

DESIGN

A total of 510 cases of sternomastoid tumor in infants over a 10-year period were studied prospectively with a mean follow-up of 3.5 years and a range from 1. 5 years to 13 years. The clinical presentations, associated abnormalities, treatments, and outcomes of the overall group and subgroups were evaluated to determine the most important prognostic factors.

RESULTS

The mean age of presentation was day 24, with most (92.7%) presenting before the age of 3 months. There was a high correlation with breech presentation and assisted delivery. Clinical subgroups according to the deficit in passive rotation of the neck correlated with the incidence of hip dysplasia (up to 11.6%), mode of delivery, time of presentation, degree of craniofacial asymmetry, head tilt, and the size and extent of the pseudotumor (P <.05). With an early and prolonged manual stretching program, 90.7% had excellent and good overall results. The 6.7% of patients in the poor outcome group requiring surgical treatment all belonged to the more severe rotation limitation groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Subgrouping patients with sternomastoid tumor according to the passive limitation of rotation of the neck has prognostic significance, with good overall results of conservative treatment with manual stretching.