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

Objectives: Congenital muscular torticollis is a common and controversial c ondition in infancy We studied prospectively a group of infants with clearl y 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 yea rs and a range from 1.5 years to 13 years. The clinical presentations, asso ciated abnormalities, treatments, and outcomes of the overall group and sub groups were evaluated to determine the most important prognostic factors. Results: The mean age of presentation was day 24, with most (92.7%) present ing before the age of 3 months. There was a high correlation with breech pr esentation and assisted delivery. Clinical subgroups according to the defic it in passive rotation of the neck correlated with the incidence of hip dys plasia (up to 11.6%), mode of delivery, time of presentation, degree of cra niofacial 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 outco me group requiring surgical treatment all belonged to the more severe rotat ion limitation groups. Conclusions: Subgrouping patients with sternomastoid tumor according to the passive limitation of rotation of the neck has prognostic significance, wi th good overall results of conservative treatment with manual stretching.