Computer tomography-based morphometric analysis of the cervical spine pedicles C3-C7

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic Surgery
• Radiology
• Anatomy

Background:

• Cervical pedicle dimensions are crucial for safe screw placement.
• Understanding morphometric variations is essential for surgical planning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze specific cervical pedicle dimensions in a large Caucasian cohort.
• To provide detailed morphometric data for preoperative planning of cervical pedicle screw insertion.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 100 cervical spine CT scans (1mm slice thickness).
• Measurement of pedicle axial length (PAL), inner/outer pedicle diameter (IPD/OPD), angles (PSA/PTA), height (PH), width (PW), and cortical thickness (COT).
• Measurements performed by two independent observers on 1000 cervical pedicles (C3-C7) from 52 males and 48 females.

Main Results:

• Pedicle width (PW) and length (PAL) were smaller in females than males.
• Significant differences in cortical thickness between medial and lateral pedicle margins.
• Interrater reliability was good to very good for most measured parameters, except PAL and cortical thickness.

Conclusions:

• Cervical pedicle dimensions in this cohort are comparable to other ethnicities.
• Preoperative planning using fine-cut CT scans shows good reliability for surgical dimensions.
• A notable percentage of patients, particularly females at C3, may have pedicle widths unsuitable for safe screw insertion.