Category: Visual Diagnosis
Keywords: C Spine, osteomyelitis, (PubMed Search)
Posted: 5/25/2023 by Robert Flint, MD
(Updated: 10/7/2024)
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Neck pain and trouble swalowing. No trauma.
Osteomyelitis of the cervical spine is the least common location to find spinal infection. “Osteomyelitis of the cervical spine is a rare disease, representing only 3% – 6% of all cases of vertebral osteomyelitis. In contrast with other locations of spinal infections, osteomyelitis of the cervical spine can be a much more dramatic and rapidly deteriorating process, leading to early neurologic deficit”.
Note the bony destruction as well as the abscess labeled on the lateral view.