'Abnormal' cervical imaging?: Cervical pneumatocysts - A case report of a cervical spine pneumatocyst
Hanna Renshaw1, Amit Patel1, Daniel Sherif Zakaria Matta Boctor1
1Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Lister Hospital, Coreys Mill Lane, Stevenage, Hertfordshire SG1 4AB, UK.
Abstract:
To our knowledge there are only 15 reported cases of pneumatocysts in the cervical spine, but awareness of their existence should help the clinician when diagnosing abnormalities in radiological images. When faced with intravertebral gas, in addition to considering more sinister causes, one should consider the differentials including pneumatocysts. Despite our relative lack of understanding of these benign lesions the knowledge that they can change over time should prevent unnecessary testing or treating. We present a patient who fell down stairs and was found to have cervical intravertebral gas, on computed tomography imaging, with the typical appearance of a pneumatocyst.
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