Correlation Analysis Between Computed Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Assessing Thoracic Pedicle...

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic surgery
• Radiology
• Spine anatomy

Background:

• Thoracic pedicle morphology is crucial for spinal surgery.
• Accurate preoperative assessment of pedicle dimensions is essential for safe screw placement.
• Computed tomography (CT) is commonly used, but magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) offers potential advantages.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the accuracy and reliability of MRI in characterizing thoracic pedicle morphology.
• To compare MRI-based pedicle measurements with CT findings.
• To assess the feasibility of using MRI for preoperative surgical planning.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of CT and MRI datasets from 63 patients.
• Evaluation of bilateral T3, T6, T9, and T12 thoracic pedicles.
• Classification of pedicles into types A, B, C, and D based on Sarwahi et al. criteria.
• Comparison of pedicle type, chord length, and isthmic diameter between MRI and CT.

Main Results:

• MRI demonstrated high accuracy rates: 92.86% for type A, 96.53% for type B, and 100% for types C and D pedicles compared to CT.
• Overall concordance between MRI and CT readings was high across thoracic levels (94.43%–99.3%).
• Moderate to good reliability was observed for pedicle isthmic diameter and chord length measurements between MRI and CT.

Conclusions:

• MRI is a reliable tool for characterizing thoracic pedicle morphology.
• MRI measurements can accurately estimate pedicle dimensions.
• Preoperative pedicle screw sizing can potentially be performed using MRI scans alone.