Radiologic Eval Back pain Flashcards
Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis
Hardening/calcification along the anterior longitudinal ligament of the thoracic/ lumbar spine = ‘bony bridges’
Ankylosing Spondylitis
Chronic inflammatory autoimmune disorder which, over time, causes the sacroiliac and joints of the spine to fuse. Ossification of the annulus fibrosus, anterior & posterior ligaments in the lumbar spine “bamboo spine”
Human leukocyte antigenB27
Limbus vertebra
Are the result of anterior protrusion of the intervertebral disk beneath the ring apophysis of the growing vertebral body
Schmorl Nodes
protrusions of the cartilage of the intervertebral disc through the vertebral body endplate and into the adjacent vertebra. Leading to inflammation.
SPONDYLOLISTHESIS
Displacement or ’slippage’ of one vertebral body relative to another. Dysplastic (congenital), Isthmic (A & B), Degenerative, Traumatic, Pathologic
Diseases that can cause spondolisthesis
Osteogenesis imperfecta
Infection
Tumor
Paget’s
facet tropism can be caused by
hypermobility
developmental defect or ‘stress’ fracture of the pars interarticularis
spondololysis; mild defect in scotty dog collar. If decapitated it’s spondylolisthesis
When to use MRI of lumbar spine
used to evaluate the integrity of the spinal ligaments,
necessary to assess the spinal cord of any trauma patient with neurologic deficits or symptoms that suggest spinal cord injury
when to use CT of lumbar spine
Vertebral fractures are better characterized by CT
When CT or plain radiographs demonstrate a thoracolumbar burst fracture, MRI is often used to characterize the integrity of the posterior ligaments