Delayed presentation of posttraumatic cervical disk herniation.

Traumatic injuries of the cervical spine are frequent, especially following motor vehicle accidents [1]. Multiple lesions predominate, with a variable distribution according to vertebra I level and anatomic structure [2, 3]. Injury to the intervertebral disk has been seen in slightly less than one-third of patients [2,3]. A patient with a neck injury developed obvious radiographic signs of spinal injury, but on a delayed basis. The unusual sequence of events and radiologic studies are presented.