L8 Imagining of the spine Flashcards
MRI can be used to visualise the spinal cord soft tissue and the nerve roots but also what can it look at
the bone marrow
also radiography and CT for trauma and
Other techniques including myelography where contrast is injected into the vertebral Canal in order to display the nerve roots.
There is also nuclear medicine and in specific circumstances ultrasound
what travels through the vertebral foramen
Spinal cord and its meninges,
Spinal nerve roots and blood vessels
what travels through the transverse foramen
Vertebral artery and vein
Sympathetic nerve plexus
C1, C2, C7 ( vertebrae prominens) T1, T11, T12 L5 are all
atypical vertebrae
what vertebrae No vertebral body. anterior and posterior arches paired lateral masses paired transverse processes. and articulates with base of skull
C1-atlas
what vertebrae
odontoid peg
Important role in head rotation
Majority of movement occuring around the dens and at the atlanto axial joint
C2 -axis
atlantoaxial joint
Important role in head rotation
Majority of movement occuring around the dens and at the atlanto axial joint
c1-2
odontoid peg held in place b this and transverse ligaments
intevertebral foramen allows what to exit
The intervertebral foramen transmits exiting nerve roots and can be affected by a number of different abnormalities including vertebral osteophytes, intervertebral discs or the linings of the vertebral Canal such as a ligament. The ligamentum flavum runs posteriorly along the pedicles and this can be hypertrophied narrowing the vertebral canal or foramina and all of these can impinge upon the exiting nerve roots.
sliped disc
The intervertebral disc has a central nucleus pulposus a peripheral annulus fibrosus. So the nucleus pulposus is composed of fluid or jelly like substance and the annulus is more fibrous as the name suggests. Sometimes what can happen is that there can be a fissure that allows the nucleus pulposus to herniate out narrowing the vertebral Canal or neural exit foramen with subsequent compression of neural structures and symptoms the patient might develop.
the nat longitudinal ligament lies along ant spec of vertebral bodies
posterior is poster
on the posterior arch what ligament flavum
what is the function of ligament
Ligaments assist the vertebral column in maintaining stability
Trauma may result in ligamentous damage
Best illustrated on MR- appear dark
ABCS: Alignment (& Adequacy) Bone Cartilage Soft Tissue
always look at lungs too
If there is a suspicion of Spinal injury either on the plain film or clinically then ordinarily we would proceed to a
CT
what disease can have vertebral body osteophytes
Osteoarthritis is most common in the knees, hips, spine and small joints of the hands and base of the big toe. As the joints become increasingly damaged, new bone may form around the joints. These bony growths are called osteophytes.
in general another thing when you get older can be that the intervertebral disc space is not preserved
kyphoscoliosis - scoliosis and kyphosis
what is spondylolistesis
Spondylolisthesis is where one of the bones in your spine, known as a vertebra, slips out of position. It’s most common in the lower back
pain, numbness or a tingling feeling down leg
steroid injection into leg
what is a disc prolapse
So in disc prolapse as I’ve briefly discussed earlier, there’s loss of disc water and degeneration of the outer disk, which is the annulus fibrosus and either prolapse of water material causing a bulge or a protrusion or extrusion outside this fibrosis and that can impinge upon the thecal sac within the vertebral canal and can impinge on the nerve Roots themselves and cause symptoms, in this circumstance within the leg if compressed.
bulges out
keyhole sign
he keyhole sign is an ultrasonographic sign seen in boys with posterior urethral valves
in slipped disc
