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To determine if the obliteration of a cervical space, the paraspinal fat pad (PFP), can be used as an indicator at computed tomography (CT) of an injury of cervical spine posterior ligamentous complex (PLC).

This retrospective study was approved by the institutional board review; written informed consent was obtained from healthy subjects and was waived for patients. First, PFP appearance was evaluated in an anatomic specimen and in 10 healthy subjects on spine CT scans by three radiologists (readers 1, 2, and 3) working in consensus. Then, in 85 patients with suspicion of cervical spine trauma following high-velocity trauma, readers 2 and 3 reviewed in consensus the cervical spine CT (reference for fracture and luxation) and 1.5-T magnetic resonance images (T1, T2, and short inversion time inversion-recovery sequences; reference for ligament and disk injuries and contusion or …