Cervical disc extrusion

Case contributed by Varun Babu
Diagnosis certain

Presentation

Chronic neck pain.

Patient Data

Age: 60 years
Gender: Male
mri

Straightened cervical spine with preserved alignment. Multilevel disc dessication.

C3-C4 and C4-C5 central posterior disc protrusions indenting ventral thecal sac without any neural foraminal narrowing.

C5-C6 disc right paracentral posterior annular tear, extrusion and caudal subligamentous migration up to C6-C7 disc,  indenting ventral thecal sac, narrowing both neural foraminae. 

C6-C7 disc posterior bulge with left lateral tilt indenting ventral thecal sac, narrowing both neural foraminae (L>>>R). 

Normal spinal cord. Normal cervicomedullary junction. Normal pre and paravertebral soft tissues. 

Case Discussion

Imperative to distinguish a bulge from a protrusion and an extrusion. This case demonstrates all three at different levels. 

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