THURSDAY, Aug. 27 (HealthDay News) -- In patients undergoing preoperative thin-cut imaging for cervical pedicle screw insertion, linear and angular parameters show a fair amount of variability, according to a study in the September issue of The Spine Journal.
Adebukola Onibokun, M.D., from the University of California in Los Angeles, and colleagues evaluated the pedicle morphology of the C3 to C7 vertebrae in 122 patients undergoing cervical transpedicular fixation using axial and sagittal computed tomography imaging.
The researchers found that the overall mean pedicle width ranged from 4.7 to 6.5 mm, pedicle height ranged from 6.4 to 7.0 mm, and maximal screw length ranged from 29.9 to 32.9 mm. The overall mean pedicle transverse angle ranged from 37.8 to 45.3 degrees, approximately 44 degrees from C3 to C6 and 37.8 degrees at C7.
"The findings of our radiological anatomical study suggest that the preoperative computed tomography scans of patients undergoing cervical transpedicular fixation should be thoroughly analyzed and close attention paid to the pedicular transverse diameter and its angulation in the axial plane," Onibokun and colleagues conclude.
Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
