Items tagged “spine”

The naked facet sign (also known as the hamburger sign or reverse hamburger bun sign) refers to the CT appearance of an uncovered vertebral articular facet when the facet joint is dislocated, most often in cases of locked facet.  This CT sign is characteristic of a flexion-distraction injury an...

The Borden classification of dural arteriovenous fistulas (DAVF) groups these lesions into three types based upon the site of venous drainage and the presence or absence of cortical venous drainage. It was first proposed in 1995 1. At the time of writing (July 2016), it is probably less popular ...

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is an MRI technique that uses anisotropic diffusion to estimate the axonal (white matter) organization of the brain. Fiber tractography (FT) is a 3D reconstruction technique to assess neural tracts using data collected by diffusion tensor imaging. Diffusion-weigh...

Differential diagnosis of vertebral lesions is very wide. Differential diagnosis Vertebral body origin intraosseous hemangioma metastases Paget disease multiple myeloma osteonecrosis vertebral body osteomyelitis lymphoma plasmacytoma giant cell tumor Langerhans...

The Castellvi classification is used for lumbosacral transitional vertebra (LSTV): type I: enlarged and dysplastic transverse process (at least 19 mm) Ia: unilateral Ib: bilateral type II: pseudoarticulation of the transverse process and sacrum with incomplete lumbarization/sacralization; en...

According to CT myelography, brachial plexus injuries can be classified into six types 1: N type: normal root sleeve and nerve roots A1 type: slightly deformed root sleeves and nerve roots as compared to unaffected site A2 type: obliteration of the tip of root sleeves and deformed thickened n...

Brachial plexus injuries are a spectrum of upper limb neurological deficits secondary to partial or complete injury to the brachial plexus, which provides the nerve supply of upper limb muscles.  Clinical presentation Trauma, usually by motor vehicle accidents, involves severe traction on the ...

The fluid sign is one of the radiological features of osteoporotic fractures, and can be helpful in distinguishing them from metastatic vertebral fractures, as it is seen more often in osteoporotic fractures and is rarely seen in metastatic fractures 1. It is not as helpful as identifying a para...

The brachial plexus is a complex neural network formed by lower cervical and upper thoracic ventral nerve roots which supplies motor and sensory innervation to the upper limb and pectoral girdle. It is located in the neck extending into the axilla posterior to the clavicle. Summary origin: ven...

Osteoarthritis of the vertebral column, also known as spinal osteoarthritis, is so common that it is widely known as spinal "degenerative change". Complications such as spinal stenosis are important to recognize.  Radiographic features Spinal osteoarthritis presents radiologically like other j...

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...

Occipital vertebrae are rare anatomical variants that result from incomplete or aberrant fusion of occipital bone ossification centers. There is a broad spectrum of occipital vertebrae, the more common variants include: third condyle (condylus tertius) basilar process prebasioccipital arch p...

Vanishing vertebrae is a rare ischemic manifestation of sickle cell disease, in which a completely infarcted vertebral body literally disappears or vanishes, as a result of infarction. In the few reported cases, the posterior elements remain intact. See also codfish or h-shaped vertebrae ante...

Opticospinal multiple sclerosis (OSMS) is a demyelinating disease and has been considered a variant of multiple sclerosis (MS) encountered in Asian populations, who are generally rarely affected by normal multiple sclerosis. It has similar clinical and imaging features to neuromyelitis optica (N...

HIV-related vacuolar myelopathy, also known as AIDS-related myelopathy, is the most common chronic myelopathy associated with HIV infection and is typically seen in the late stages of the disease. Clinical presentation Patients tend to have slowly progressive weakness of the lower extremities,...

Bullet-shaped vertebra, also known as ovoid vertebra, refers to the anterior beaking of the vertebral body. It is seen in the following conditions: mucopolysaccharidosis (Morquio disease, Hurler disease) achondroplasia congenital hypothyroidism progressive pseudorheumatoid dysplasia 4 Wils...

Disc degeneration can be graded on MRI T2 weighted images. Usage The Pfirrmann grading system is the most widely known classification for intervertebral disc degeneration and is used in both clinical and research capabilities 2,3. The intra- and inter-observer agreement of the Pfirrmann gradin...

Angiolipomas are rare soft tissue tumors composed of mature adipocytes and vessels. They most commonly arise in the subcutaneous tissues of the extremities. Please refer to the epidural (spinal) angiolipoma article for a specific discussion. The remainder of this article describes the general f...

Epidural angiolipomas are rare benign tumors composed of mature adipocytes and abnormal vessels.  Epidemiology Epidural angiolipomas are more frequently encountered in women, and typically in middle age (40-50 years of age) 1.  Clinical presentation In keeping with the slow growth of these t...

Atlanto-occipital assimilation is the fusion of the atlas (C1) to the occiput and is one of the transitional vertebrae.  Epidemiology Atlanto-occipital assimilation occurs in approximately 0.5% (range 0.08-3%) of the population 2-5. It is thought to affect males and females equally. Associati...