Emergency radiology: straightening of the cervical spine in MDCT after trauma--a sign of injury or normal variant?

To evaluate whether straightening of the cervical spine (C-spine) alignment after trauma can be considered a significant multidetector CT (MDCT) finding.160 consecutive patients after C-spine trauma admitted to a Level 1 trauma centre received MDCT according to Canadian Cervical Spine Rule and National Emergency X-Radiography Utilization Study indication rule; subgroups with and without cervical collar immobilization (CCI +/-) were compared with a control group (n = 20) of non-traumatized patients. Two independent readers evaluated retrospectively the alignment, determined the absolute rotational angle of the posterior surface of C2 and C7 (ARA C2-7) and grouped the results for lordosis (-1…