Articles
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743 results found
Article
Cervical spine (odontoid view)
The odontoid or 'peg' projection, also known as the open mouth AP projection (or radiograph), is an AP projection of C1 (atlas) and C2 (axis) with the patient's mouth open.
Indications
This view focuses primarily on the odontoid process of C2, and is useful in visualizing odontoid and Jefferso...
Article
Cervical spine (flexion and extension views)
The cervical spine flexion and extension views demonstrate the seven vertebrae of the cervical spine when the patient is in a lateral position.
Indications
These views are specialized projections often requested to assess for spinal stability.
Note, such functional views should not be perform...
Article
Scoliosis (erect lateral view)
The scoliosis erect lateral view is performed to visualize the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae of interest in profile.
Indications
This projection is done in cases of scoliosis and often done upon first presentation as a useful examination in identifying spondylolisthesis and the degree of kyph...
Article
Iofendylate
Iofendylate (generic names: ethyl 10-(4-iodophenyl)undecanoate or iodophenylundecylic acid) and sold under the tradename Myodil (except the USA where it was marketed as Pantopaque) was an oil-based contrast medium used for myelography.
The iodine moiety of the compound causes high attenuation ...
Article
Spinal epidural injection
Epidural spinal injections are one of the more frequently performed spinal interventional procedures. Three approaches to the epidural space exist:
caudal epidural injection (via the sacral hiatus)
interlaminar epidural injection
cervical interlaminar epidural injection
lumbar interlaminar ...
Article
Spinal canal
The spinal canal, also known as the vertebral canal, is the cavity within the vertebral column that contains the thecal sac and spinal cord. The canal consists of a series of vertebral foramina (the holes at the center of the vertebra) linked with discoligamentous structures.
Gross anatomy
The...
Article
Prebasioccipital arch
The prebasioccipital arch is a rare anatomical variant of the occipital bone that is part of the spectrum of occipital vertebrae 1.
Epidemiology
The prebasioccipital arch is a very rare variant; one study reported a prevalence of 0.025% 2.
Clinical presentation
The prebasioccipital arch is a...
Article
Anterior vertebral body beaking
Anterior vertebral body beaking occurs in a number of conditions and may emanate from the central portion or the lower third of the vertebral body.
Middle third
Morquio syndrome 1 (middle for Morquio)
Lower third
Hurler syndrome 2
achondroplasia 3
congenital hypothyroidism (formerly, creti...
Article
Lateral corticospinal tract
The lateral corticospinal tract is formed at the level of the of the medullary pyramids when the majority (90%) of descending corticospinal tract fibers decussate. The remaining 10% do not decussate and form the much smaller anterior corticospinal tract. A few non-decussated fibers may enter the...
Article
Intradural extramedullary metastases
Intradural extramedullary metastases are rare and account for approximately 5% of spinal metastases.
Please review leptomeningeal metastases (brain) for a general discussion focused on the brain's subarachnoid space involvement.
Epidemiology
The age at presentation depends on tumor type. Meta...
Article
Sagittal balance
Sagittal balance, along with coronal balance, reflects the innate neutral standing position with C7 positioned over S1 as a feature of human bipedalism 1,3.
Pathology
Sagittal balance can change depending on various factors, including spinal deformities such as a loss of lumbar lordosis 1.
Ra...
Article
Perched facet joint
Perched facet joint is a vertebral facet joint whose inferior articular process appears to sit 'perched' on the ipsilateral superior articular process of the vertebra below.
Any further anterior subluxation will result in dislocation, with one facet "jumping" over the other and becoming locked ...
Article
Bilateral facet dislocation
A bilateral facet dislocation is an unstable flexion distraction type of dislocation of the cervical spine, often a result of buckling force. Occasionally, the bilateral facet dislocation has been named a 'doubly-locked' vertebral injury giving the impression of stability. However, due to comple...
Article
Disc sequestration
Sequestrated disc, also referred to as a free disc fragment, corresponds to extruded disc material that has no continuity with the parent disc and is displaced away from the site of extrusion. By definition, it corresponds to a subtype of disc extrusion.
The term "migrated" disc refers only to ...
Article
Andersson lesion
An Andersson lesion, also known as rheumatic spondylodiscitis, refer to an inflammatory involvement of the intervertebral discs by spondyloarthritis.
Epidemiology
Rheumatic spondylodiscitis is a non-infectious condition that has been shown to occur in about 8% of patients with ankylosing spond...
Article
Calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate deposition disease
Calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate deposition (CPPD) disease, also known as pyrophosphate arthropathy or pseudogout, is defined by the co-occurrence of arthritis with evidence of CPPD deposition within the articular cartilage.
Terminology
The terminology regarding CPPD disease has been confusing...
Article
Vertebral hemangioma
Vertebral hemangiomas are the most common benign vertebral neoplasms. That said, they are not true neoplasms but venous malformations. They are usually asymptomatic and incidentally detected due to their characteristic features on imaging for other reasons. Rarely, they can be locally aggressive...
Article
Myxopapillary ependymoma
Myxopapillary ependymomas are a variant type of ependymoma that occurs predominantly in the filum terminale and/or conus medullaris. They represent 13% of all spinal ependymomas and are the most common tumors of the cauda equina region.
Epidemiology
They tend to have an earlier clinical presen...
Article
Annular fissure
Annular fissures, also known as annular tears, are a degenerative deficiency of one or more layers that make up the annulus fibrosus of the intervertebral disc.
Terminology
Many authors prefer the term "annular fissure" over "annular tear", as the latter seems to imply acute injury 1,2. In th...
Article
Atlantodental interval
The atlantodental interval is used in the diagnosis of atlanto-occipital dissociation injuries and injuries of the atlas and axis.
Measurement
The anterior atlantodental interval is the horizontal distance between the posterior cortex of the anterior arch of the atlas (C1) and the anterior cor...
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