[Congenital absence of a cervical spine pedicle. Incidental finding in patient with cervical pain. Diagnostic approach by helical CT].

Congenital absence of a cervical pedicle is usually an incidental finding in radiological studies made after trauma in patients with cervical pain. We report the case of a patient with congenital absence of the right pedicle in a cervical vertebra. Recognition of this anomaly is important to avoid confusion with more clinically significant anomalies, such as unilateral facet dislocation, that may result in inappropriate surgical intervention.