'Abnormal' cervical imaging?: Cervical pneumatocysts - A case report of a cervical spine pneumatocyst.

Renshaw, Hanna; Patel, Amit; Boctor, Daniel Sherif Zakaria Matta; Hakmi, Mohamed Atef · J Orthop · 2015

case_report · Level V

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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.

Anatomy