Covertebral osteophytes, secondary to disc degenerations, may impinge either upon the vertebral artery and its surrounding sympathetic plexus or more posteriorly upon the intervertebral foramen.
In the posterior cervical articulations, secondary to degenerative processes, osteophytes may likewise develop which impinge upon the vertebral artery or encroach upon the intervertebral foramen.
Such a foramen, encroached upon by either osteophytes or backward slipping of a vertebra, may show microscopic changes involving the compressed nerve root.