Magnetic resonance imaging in the evaluation of a gunshot wound to the cervical spine.

A patient in the second trimester of pregnancy sustained a gunshot wound of the upper cervical spine with a partial Brown-Séquard syndrome. The patient's condition was evaluated by conventional roentgenography, computed axial tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The MRI alone clearly demonstrated the relationship of the bullet and the spinal cord, whereas the CT image was obliterated by metal artifacts. The bullet was removed from the spinal canal by a posterior approach with the patient in the sitting position and in skeletal cervical traction. The neurological status of the patient improved markedly after the surgery.