Fall from height

Case contributed by Yaïr Glick

Presentation

Fell off a ladder and bumped his head.

Patient Data

Age: 65 years
Gender: Male
ct

Left frontoparietal scalp hematoma.

Transversely oriented fractures through the base of C2 vertebra, involving the neural foramina but not the dens.

Mild leukoaraiosis.

Case Discussion

A case of head trauma with cervical spine fractures. The patient had severe osteoporosis, seen here in the superior cervical vertebrae and clearly evident on the chest-abdomen-pelvis scan. Osteoporosis and a rigid spine (e.g. DISH, ankylosing spondylitis) predispose to spinal fractures in cases of relatively mild trauma to the spine.

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