acc complication

After my anterior cervical corpectomy involving removal of C6 and part of C5, C7 was shown in x-rays 6 weeks later to have cracked.  Could this be from the screw placement of the Ti plate?  Could this have been a flaw in that vertebrae?  The screw did enter a slight downward angle.  Will this heal by itself, or is the a procedure for repair? Post operative x-rays did not show any damage.

[JainMD]

Hi,
Immediately post surgery you said the X-ray didn’t show any damage.
Are the x-rays pre-operatively, post-operatively and now done at the same radiology centre?
Yes indeed it could be due to faulty or mal-aligned screw placement.
It can’t be a flaw in vertebra as; I assume there was no pathology being reported on C7 pre-operatively.
I think you need to serially monitor the growth of bone around the crack.
If you feel the crack is not getting healed or there is Malunion happening, then there is a need to intervene surgically.
Keep me informed.
Bye.