What is an advantage of the Fuchs view over the open mouth view?
The open mouth view may obscure the top of the dens. The Fuchs view is more likely to show dens without an overlapping shadow.
When should the Fuchs view be avoided?
In the setting of trauma... one does not want to manipulate a potentially unstable C1 and C2. A modified Fuchs or open mouth odontoid could be used instead.
Diagram of the modified Fuchs view.
Modified image from Gray's anatomy via Wikimedia Commons. The original images can be seen at
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AGray188_no_text_bw.png
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Gray%27s_Anatomy_plates#/media/File:Gray_111_-_Vertebral_column.png