The palm tree cervical spine--a normal anatomical variant.
A case of "palm tree" cervical spine with cervical spondylitic myelopathy is described. It is shown that this upward course of the nerve roots over the pedicle is a variant of normal anatomy, not described in standard textbooks and that this variation may be seen on myelograms. The futility of attempting to correct the variation is described.
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009192:Myelography; D013126:Spinal Nerve Roots / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*