Sudden onset quadriparesis after minor injury to neck in a male with OS odontoideum.

Os odontoideum is a rare anomaly of the second cervical vertebra. Here, a young male patient with quadriparesis secondary to myelopathy associated with os odontoideum is reported. The patient was totally asymptomatic prior to this episode which was precipitated by trivial neck injury. He started recovering with conservative measures and was referred to our neurosurgery department for further evaluation and definitive surgical intervention as there is always a chance of recurrence of symptoms in these patients. There is a role for conservative treatment of an asymptomatic incidentally found, radiologically stable, and noncompressive os odontoideum, however surgery has a definite role in symptomatic cases.