Clinical Practice and Cases in Emergency Medicine

Case Presentation: We describe a case of an elderly female patient with a history of pseudogout who presented to the emergency department with atraumatic neck pain, fever, and malaise, who was found to have crowned dens syndrome on computed tomography imaging. 

Discussion: It is important that emergency physicians consider crowned dens syndrome in elderly patients presenting with neck pain and signs of inflammation to ensure timely diagnosis, treatment, and to minimize unnecessary invasive testing.