Objective: To determine how bilateral mastoid fossa asymmetry relates with other patterns of interference associated with vertebral subluxation analysis, employing state of the art thermography detection instrumentation.

Design: Bilateral thermographic mastoid fossa data for this study was compiled retrospectively by paraprofessionals from randomly selected “active patient files.” A paraprofessional trained in paraspinal thermographic scanning randomly selected patient files making note of case numbers to preclude the possibility of duplication of patients. “Active patient files” are case records of patients receiving care on a scheduled basis in accordance with the established plan of care. The active patient files consisted of 552 case files. Mastoid fossa data were extracted from 139 randomly selected patient visits from among those wherein the doctor had identified the presence of patterns of interference and receiving atlas adjustments; and 114 randomly selected patient visits without patterns of interference.

Methods: On all prior visits the following four criteria were used to determine the presence of a pattern of interference: cervical paraspinal thermographic scan; mastoid fossa temperature differential; spinal balance (Thompson-Derifield) leg length and cervical syndrome leg length tests. The TyTronâ scanner, model C-3000 was used to compile all paraspinal thermographic data. The data was randomly collected from a population of 552 active patient files. 139 patient visits were selected that displayed patterns of interference and received atlas adjustments; and 114 patient visits without patterns of interference.

Results: In the absence of patterns of interference a tendency toward bilateral mastoid fossa temperature symmetry (55.26% of cases) was observed. In the presence of patterns of interference there was less of a tendency for bilateral mastoid fossa Temperature symmetry (32.0% of cases). When asymmetry was found the average difference in fossa temperatures exceeded those observed using conventional tools. In patients displaying the presence of patterns of interference the fossa temperature tended to be cooler on the side of atlas vertebra laterality (SOL). It was also observed that the pre-adjustment balanced temperatures were fewer than the number of post-adjustment balanced temperatures.

Conclusions: The data suggests that there is a tendency toward bilateral mastoid fossa thermographic symmetry, especially in the absence of patterns of interference. However, bilateral symmetry is less likely in the presence of interference patterns. Additionally, the magnitude of the temperature differential was found to be greater than experienced with earlier instrumentation. It was also noted that in the presence of interference patterns associated with atlas listings the mastoid fossa tends to be more frequently cooler on the side of atlas laterality.

Key Words: Thermography, paraspinal, pattern of interference, mastoid fossa, Chirometerâ, TyTronâ, Neurocalometerâ, Neurocalographâ, vertebral subluxation.

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