Teenager with neck pain who hit his head on the ground while wrestling with a friend

Neurological
CT of fracture of C1 vertebral body / Jefferson fracture
Axial CT without contrast of the cervical spine (upper left) shows lucencies through the left anterior and posterior arches of the C1 vertebral body with displacement of the fracture fragments. Coronal 2-D reconstruction (lower left) and the 3-D reconstruction (right) which simulates an open-mouth odontoid radiograph shows the lateral masses of the C1 vertebral body are now wider than the lateral masses of the C2 vertebral body.

The diagnosis was displaced fracture of the anterior and posterior arches of C1, a Jefferson fracture.

Published