Klippel-Feil syndrome: Examples from two skeletal collections of Alaskan natives

Vertebral fusion was observed as part of a larger study of spinal pathologies in skeletal collections of Alaskan Natives from Golovin Bay and Nunivak Island, USA. Block vertebrae that were clearly congenital were differentiated from vertebral fusion resulting from osteophyte development or other pathological conditions. Congenital fusion (segmentation failure) was present in the cervical vertebrae of two individuals from each collection. The pathologies observed most likely represent cases of Klippel-Feil syndrome. Three cases exhibit segmentation failure of the second and third cervical vertebrae, while the third and fourth cervical vertebrae are connected in the fourth individual. The frequencies of segmentation failure between the second and third cervical vertebrae are 1.9% for Golovin Bay and 4.7% for Nunivak Island. These are some of the first cases of this condition observed in Alaskan Natives and will hopefully add to our understanding of the occurrence of this rare congenital malformation among past populations in Alaska.