MR imaging of acute cervical spinal ligamentous and soft tissue trauma

The increasing availability of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and the high sensitivity of MRI for soft tissue injury are resulting in the increased use of MRI for the evaluation of acute trauma. As cervical spine injury can have a devastating consequence, MRI is being more commonly used to evaluate cervical spine injury in the acute setting, necessitating emergent interpretation by the on-call radiologist. Unless one is formally trained in a trauma center, the MRI findings of soft tissue and ligamentous cervical spine injury may not be fully appreciated. The goal of this pictorial review is to familiarize the reader with some of the more common soft tissue, vascular, and ligamentous injuries seen on MRI of the cervical spine in the emergent setting.