Claw sign (spine)

Last revised by Francis Deng on 7 Oct 2020

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Smith H, Deng F, Kabra U, et al. Claw sign (spine). Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 16 Apr 2024) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-65516

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-65516

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/65516

rID:

65516

Article created:

12 Jan 2019, Hamish Smith

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Hamish Smith had no recorded disclosures.

View Hamish Smith's current disclosures

Last revised:

7 Oct 2020, Francis Deng ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Francis Deng had no recorded disclosures.

View Francis Deng's current disclosures

Revisions:

4 times, by 4 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Musculoskeletal

Sections:

Signs

Tags:

rg_39_1_new, spinal infection, back pain, cases

Synonyms:

DWI claw sign
Claw sign

The claw sign on diffusion weighted imaging refers to a pattern of hyperintensity seen in degenerative changes in the spine (Modic type 1): well-defined, paired band-like regions of restricted diffusion affecting two contiguous vertebral bodies, resembling a claw surrounding the disc space on sagittal images. The presence of the claw sign is highly predictive of degeneration ^1-3 and has a high negative predictive value against infection ⁴. In contrast, diffuse or amorphous DWI hyperintensity, absent a claw morphology, predicts infectious spondylodiscitis ^1-3.