Computerized Tomographic Morphometric Analysis of the Cervical Spine

Abstract

Background:Detailed knowledge of cervical canal and transverse foramens’ morphometry is critical for understanding the pathology of certain diseases and for proper preoperative planning. Lateral x-rays do not provide the necessary accuracy. A retrospective morphometric study of the cervical canal was performed at the authors’ institution to measure mean dimensions of sagittal canal diameter (SCD), right and left transverse foramens’ sagittal (SFD) and transverse (TFD) diameters and minimum distance between spinal canal and transverse foramens (dSC-TF) for each level of the cervical spine from C1-C7, using computerized tomographic scans, in 100 patients from the archives of the Emergency Room.Results:Significant differences for SCD were detected between C1 and the other levels of the cervical spine for both male and female patients. For the transverse foramen, significant differences in sagittal diameters were detected at C3, C4, C5 levels. For transverse diameters, significant differences at C3 and C4 levels. A significant difference of the distance between the transverse spinal foramen and the cervical canal was measured between left and right side at the level of C3. This difference was equally observed to male and female subjects.Conclusion:CT scan can replace older conventional radiography techniques by providing more accurate measurements on anatomical elements of the cervical spine that could facilitate diagnosis and preoperative planning, thus avoiding possible trauma to the vertebral arteries during tissue dissection and instrument application.

Morphometric Analysis of Human Second Cervical Vertebrae (Axis)

“…Although, the area of dens, which seems to be more relevant for screw design as well as stress distribution, is yet to be determined. Other studies focused more on the spinal canal parameters which play an important role in stenosis and itraspinal tumours diagnosis [14][15][16]. Some of the researches devoted themselves to measure the pedicle parameters for transpedicular crew fixation [8,[17][18][19][20][21][22].…”

“…Some of the researches devoted themselves to measure the pedicle parameters for transpedicular crew fixation [8,[17][18][19][20][21][22]. The previous studies obtained morphometric parameters either from CT scans or radiographs [10,16,17,23] or by direct measurement performed on cadavers [15,18,[24][25][26][27].…”

Biometrics of the Cervical Spinal Canal and Cord by Computer Tomography in Togo

“…UlbriCH [14] noted a lowering from C1 to C6. Other studies [13] [15] noticed a fall from C1 to C4 with an increase to C5 and a decrease to C6. Our study as well as Singh et al [7] has not found any statistical significant difference between the APD1 of the cervical spinal canal of men and those of women.…”

“…Our study as well as Singh et al [7] has not found any statistical significant difference between the APD1 of the cervical spinal canal of men and those of women. However, Evangepolos et al [13] noticed a significant difference between the genders at C1. The comparison of the APD1 of our study with those of Singh et al [7] on the one hand and with those of Evangepolos et al [13] on the other hand, revealed that the differences are not statistically important.…”

“…However, Evangepolos et al [13] noticed a significant difference between the genders at C1. The comparison of the APD1 of our study with those of Singh et al [7] on the one hand and with those of Evangepolos et al [13] on the other hand, revealed that the differences are not statistically important. As for Taitz [10], the APD1 would be larger with White people than Black people, without any important difference.…”