Imaging of the Skeleton Flashcards
What do images assess for?
Trauma Degenerative diseases Metabolic diseases Infections Neo-plasms
What are dark areas?
Lucent lesions of bone become less dense
What are whiter areas?
Sclerotic lesions of bone - has become denser
What is a periosteal reaction?
loss of smooth appearance on edge of bone, get a bulge or callus
What do white patches in soft tissue mean?
soft tissue calcifications
What is an osteopenia?
localised reduction in bone density
What is osteonecrosis
death of bone with loss of shape, hard to see as cortical bone on outside hides it
What do fractures appear like?
discontinuity of bone with black lines separating pieces of bone
What does it mean if there is metal or plastic?
will show up white and is orthopaedic hardware
What does joint integrity appear as?
loss of joint space and joint orientation
How should you assess the normal state?
Look at osteology - bone shape and orientation
Look at soft tissue - relationship of structures and normal signal levels
What direction are X Ray’s taken?
AP
only chest is PA
What do the carpals articulate with?
The radius not the ulna
scaphoid, lunate and radius articulate
When looking for abnormalities what changes should you look for?
- shape, size, orientation of bones and joint surfaces
- breaks in bone
- extra bone (calcification)
- loss of bone
- foreign objects
what are some limitations of X-Ray’s?
soft tissue doesn’t show up well
only calcified tissue shows up clearly
not very sensitive (have to lose 30% of bone mass before it shows up)
bone in front can obscure internal bone processes or structures behind (processes taking place inside bone cannot be seen - Avascular necrosis, osteomyelitis)
