Cervical stenosis: a developmental anomaly with quadriparesis during football.

As seen by the graphic depiction of F.M.'s sagittal diameter (Fig. 3) and by the photographs of his air myelogram, cervical sagittal stenosis should be looked for and thought of as an underlying anatomic anomaly in the athlete who has recurrent episodes of "pinched nerve" with flexion and hyperextension of his cervical spine during blocking or tackling. It is significant that the patient underwent two "normal" cervical spine x-rays before tomograms and air myelogram pointed out the sagittal stenosis of his cervical canal. Sagittal stenosis must be thought of and looked for strenously in the athlete competing in high velocity collision sports where recurrent neck and upper extremity complaints are too often attributed to the pinched nerve complex and a "horseshoe" collar is the remedy.