Articles
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35 results found
Article
Diffuse T1 bone marrow signal loss
Diffuse T1 vertebral bone marrow signal loss is associated with replacement of fatty marrow by edema or cellular tissue.
Radiographic features
MRI
T1-weighted imaging without fat suppression is one of the most important sequences for distinguishing between normal and abnormal bone marrow. Ab...
Article
Craniovertebral junction anomalies
Craniovertebral junction (CVJ) anomalies can be congenital, developmental or due to malformation secondary to an acquired disease process. These anomalies can lead to cranial nerve compression, vertebral artery compression, and obstructive hydrocephalus.
Pathology
The craniovertebral junction ...
Article
Basilar invagination
Basilar invagination, also called basilar impression, is a congenital or acquired craniocervical junction abnormality where the tip of the odontoid process projects above the foramen magnum.
Terminology
The following terms are often used interchangeably because they describe upwards migration...
Article
Intervertebral disc calcification
Intervertebral disc calcification is a non-specific finding seen in numerous conditions.
Epidemiology
It may be observed in pediatric 5 as well as adult populations.
Pathology
Etiology
degenerative: relatively common and may occur in up to 6% of routine abdominal radiographs in adults
post...
Article
Erosion of the odontoid process (differential)
Erosion of the odontoid peg can result from a number of pathological entities:
inflammatory arthropathy
rheumatoid arthritis: classic 1,2
systemic lupus erythematosus
crystal arthropathy
calcium pyrophosphate arthropathy (CPPD): relatively common
gout
non-inflammatory arthropathy: osteoar...
Article
Spinal metastasis
Spinal metastasis is a vague term that can be variably taken to refer to metastatic disease to any of the following:
vertebral metastases (94%)
may have epidural extension
intradural extramedullary metastases (5%)
intramedullary metastases (1%)
Each of these are discussed separately. Below ...
Article
Vertebral lesion (differential)
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 cell histiocytosis
fi...
Article
Intradural extramedullary spinal tumors
Intradural extramedullary neoplasms are located outside the spinal cord but within the dural sheath.
Epidemiology
The majority (70-80%) of spinal canal tumors are intradural extramedullary 1.
Clinical presentation
Patients present with signs and symptoms of spinal cord or nerve root compres...
Article
Neoplasms of the cauda equina (differential)
The differential diagnosis for masses of the cauda equina region is often considered separately to the remainder of the spinal cord. It is often difficult to determine whether masses in this region are intramedullary or intradural-extramedullary.
Most common tumors
myxopapillary ependymoma
by...
Article
Parasyndesmophytes
Parasyndesmophytes or non-marginal bulky syndesmophytes or floating syndesmophytes are, paravertebral dystrophic soft tissue calcifications or heterotopic ossifications.
Etiology
They are known to be seen in 4:
psoriatic arthritis
reactive arthritis
Radiographic features
Initially parasyn...
Article
Loss of intervertebral disc space (differential)
Loss of intervertebral disc space can be due to a variety of causes:
degenerative disc disease of the spine: most common cause
trauma
discitis
neuropathic spondyloarthropathy
dialysis related spondyloarthropathy
ankylosing spondylitis
ochronosis
crystal deposition diseases
sarcoidosis
...
Article
Cervical spine injury
Cervical spine injuries can involve the cervical vertebral column, intervertebral discs and cervical spine ligaments, and/or cervical spinal cord. The cervical spine accounts for ~50% of all spinal injuries.
Epidemiology
5-10% of patients with blunt trauma have a cervical spine injury 1.
Pa...
Article
Spinal epidural mass
The differential diagnosis for a spinal epidural mass includes:
epidural metastasis
epidural abscess
herniated nucleus pulposus
epidural hematoma
epidural arteriovenous malformation
epidural angiolipoma
epidural lipomatosis
extramedullary hematopoiesis
spinal schwannoma
spinal meningio...
Article
Vertebral scalloping
Vertebral scalloping is a concavity to the posterior (or less commonly anterior) aspect of the vertebral body when viewed in a lateral projection. A small amount of concavity is normal, as is concavity of the anterior vertebral body (see vertebral body squaring).
Posterior scalloping
Causes of...
Article
Coronal vertebral cleft
Coronal vertebral clefts refer to the presence of radiolucent vertical defects on a lateral radiograph.
Epidemiology
It is most often seen in premature male infants 1,3. As they can occur as part of normal variation (especially in the lower thoracic-upper lumbar spine of premature infants) t...
Article
Sacral lesions
A very wide range of lesions can occur in and around the sacrum.
Tumors
primary sacral tumors
malignant
sacral chordoma: most common primary sacral tumor 1
chondrosarcoma
Ewing sarcoma / pPNET
osteosarcoma: often arises from Paget disease in this location
multiple myeloma/plasmacytoma
...
Article
Widening of interpedicular distance
The interpedicular distance, which is the distance measured between the pedicles on frontal/coronal imaging, can be widened in a number of situations.
Pathology
Etiology
diastematomyelia
syringomyelia
conditions that can cause dural ectasia (can potentially cause widening)
Marfan syndrome
...
Article
Gibbus deformity
A gibbus deformity is a short-segment structural thoracolumbar kyphosis resulting in sharp angulation.
Pathology
Etiology
There are a number of causes which can be divided into congenital and acquired.
Congenital
achondroplasia
cretinism (congenital hypothyroidism)
Apert syndrome
Coffin-...
Article
Diffusely increased bone marrow FDG uptake
A diffuse homogeneous bone marrow FDG uptake usually reflects hyperplastic bone marrow which can be seen in the following conditions:
therapy-related
granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)
post-chemotherapy
erythropoietin
pathological process
myelodysplastic syndromes
beta-thalasse...
Article
Bone within a bone appearance
Bone within a bone is a descriptive term applied to bones that appear to have another bone within them. There are numerous causes including:
normal
thoracic and lumbar vertebrae (neonates and infants)
growth recovery lines (after infancy)
cortical splitting and new periostitis
sickle cell d...
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