Summary
Computed tomography measurements of the AP diameter, width, and cross-sectional area of the bony cervical canal were derived from cervical spine examinations of fifty-two normal adults. These quantitative parameters were then used to evaluate 80 patients with various cervical abnormalities to determine the clinical usefulness of the measurements. With the exception of spinal stenosis, quantitative cervical canal analysis was found to be of limited usefulness since normal measurements frequently occurred in the presence of significant cervical pathology.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Hammerschlag SB, Wolpert SM, Carter BL (1976) Computed tomography of the spinal canal. Radiology 121:361–367
Williams AL, Haughton VM, Daniels DL, Thornton RS (1982) CT recognition of lateral lumbar disk herniation. AJR 139: 345–347
Dorward RH, DeGroot J, Sauerland EK, Helms CA, Vogler JB (1982) Computed tomography of the lumbosacral spine: Normal anatomy, anatomic variants and pathologic anatomy. Radiographics 4:459–498
Cacayorin ED, Kieffer SA (1982) Applications and limitations of computed tomography of the spine. Radio Clin North Am 20:185–206
Sheldon JJ, Sersland T, Leborgne J (1977) Computed tomography of the lower lumbar vertebral column. Radiology 124: 113–116
Lee BCP, Kazam E, Newman AD (1978) Computed tomography of the spine and spinal cord. Radiology 129:95–102
Ullrich CG, Binet EF, Sanecki MG, Kieffer SA (1980) Quantitative assessment of the lumbar spinal canal by computed tomography. Radiology 134:137–143
Anand AK, Lee BCP (1982) Plain and Metrizamide CT of lumbar disk diseas: comparison with myelography. AJNR 3: 567–571
Haughton VM, Eldervik OP, Magnaes B, Amundsen P (1982) A prospective comparison of computed tomography and myelography in the diagnosis of herniated lumbar disks. Radiology 142:103–110
Harbin WP (1982) Metastatic disease and the nonspecific bone scan: value of spinal computed tomography. Radiology 145: 105–107
Post MJD, Green BA, Quencer RM, Stokes NA, Callahan RA, Eismont FJ (1982) The value of computed tomography in spinal trauma. Spine 7 (5):417–431
Larde D, Mathieu D, Frija J, Gaston A, Vasile N (1982) Vertebral osteomyelitis: disk hypodensity on CT. AJR 139:963–967
Roub LW, Drayer BP (1979) Spinal computed tomography: limitations and applications. AJR 133:267–273
Nakagawa H, Juang VP, Malis LI, Wolf BS (1977) Computed tomography of intraspinal and paraspinal neoplasms. J Comput Assist Tomogr 1:377–390
Resjo MI, Harwood-Nash DC, Fitz CR, Chuang S (1979) CT metrizamide myelography for intra-spinal and paraspinal neoplasms in infants and children. AJR 132:367–372
Carrera GF, Foley WD, Kozin F, Ryan L, Lawson TL (1981) CT of sacroiliitis. AJR 136:41–46
Dublin AB, McGahan JP, Reid MH (1983) The value of computed tomographic Metrizamide myelography in the neuroradiological evaluation of the spine. Radiology 146:79–86
Scotti G, Scialfa G, Pieralli S, Boccardi E, Valsecchi F, Tonon C (1983) Myelopathy and radiculopathy due to cervical spondylosis: Myelographic-CT correlations. AJNR 4: 601–603
Nakagawa H, Okumura T, Sugiyama T, Iwata K (1983) Discrepancy between Metrizamide CT and Myelography in diagnosis of cervical disk protrusions. AJNR 4:604–606
Barrow DL, Wood JH, Hoffman JC (1983) Clinical indications for computer assisted myelography. Neuro Surg 12:47–57
Koehler PR, Anderson RE, Baxter B (1979) The effect of computed tomography viewer controls on anatomical measurements. Radiology 130:189–194
Wolf BS, Khilnani M, Malis L (1956) The sagittal diameter of the bony cervical spinal canal and its significance in cervical spondylosis. J Mt Siani Hospital 23:283–292
Nordquist L (1964) The sagittal diameter of the spinal cord and subarachnoid space in different age groups. Acta Radiologica [Suppl] 227:1–96
Hinck VC, Clark W, Hopkins C (1966) Normal interpedicular distances: minimum and maximum in children and adults. AJR 97:141
Lamont AC, Zachary J, Sheldon PWE (1981) Cervical cord size in Metrizamide myelography. Clinical Radiology 32: 409–412
Thissen HOM, Keyser A, Horstink MWM, Meijer E (1979) Morphology of the cervical spinal cord on computed myelography. Neuroradiology 18:57–62
Frey GB, Wise JP, Ross PR (1980) Evaluation of CT units. Optical Engineering 19:392–396
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Stanley, J.H., Schabel, S.I., Frey, G.D. et al. Quantitative analysis of the cervical spinal canal by computed tomography. Neuroradiology 28, 139–143 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00327886
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00327886