Male, 58 years old, with cord compression. Image quality is significantly degraded by motion artifact. Within this limitation, the following observations are made. A retropharyngeal fluid collection is partially visualized. Adjacent to the collection, the paraspinal soft tissues demonstrate evidence of edema. The C3, C4 and C5 vertebral bodies, and the intervening discs, are edematous with perhaps a small amount of fluid in the disc spaces. The ventral epidural space from C3 through C5 is thickened. Image quality does not allow for the discrimination between edema, phlegmon or frank abscess. However, this process, along with superimposed degenerative disease of the disks and posterior elements, does result in significant narrowing of the spinal canal and likely some degree of cord impingement at the disc levels. Image quality is not adequate to exclude the possibility of cord edema.
In the context of a presumed retropharyngeal abscess and paraspinal edema, abnormal edematous signal within the C3-C5 vertebral bodies, and fluid like signal within the C3-4 and C4-5 disc spaces, are concerning for the possibility of discitis osteomyelitis.Thickening of the ventral epidural space is noted from C3 through C5 which is concerning for infectious involvement. Image quality does not allow for the distinction between epidural edema, phlegmon or abscess.