A Novel Radiological Scoring System for Anterior Longitudinal Ligament Injuries

Cervical hyperextension injury is very frequent with anterior longitudinal ligament (ALL) injury, and the ligament damage has a remarkable effect on whether and what type of operation should be performed. This study aims to establish a new scoring system for the accurate diagnosis of ALL damage.

The imaging data of the consecutive patients was measured and scored by four radiologists. Intraoperative exploration was performed by three surgeons. The crude and adjusted odds ratios (cOR and aOR) and receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) were constructed to assess the diagnostic accuracy of the scoring system.

A total of 255 patients with cervical spine trauma were included in this study. There was no statistical difference in the relationship between demographics and ALL injuries (P > 0.05). Thickness of prevertebral soft tissue (aOR = 11.922, P = 0.004), intervertebral disk angle (aOR = 13.21, P = 0.002), avulsion fracture of the anterior edge of the vertebral body (aOR = 13.844, P = 0.029), ALL disrupted in T1-weighted sequence (aOR = 18.349, P < 0.001), and high signal area in T2-weighted sequence (aOR = 20.898, P = 0.002) had significantly higher diagnostic accuracy. The scoring system's sensitivity and specificity were 94.0% and 88.1%, respectively, and the accuracy was 90.8%.

The study established a new scoring system for ALL injuries based on the analysis of a series of clinical data and statistics. A total of five scoring items, a total score of 7 points, and an ALL injury may be diagnosed when the score is not less than 3 points. This scoring system enables an efficient and accurate diagnosis of all injuries.