[Radiological study of the cervical spinal column in some neurological degenerative diseases (author's transl)]

This study presents the findings from a neuroradiological investigation of the cervical spinal canal in a number of diseases of the nervous system. It concerns the measurement of the sagittal and transversal diameters of the spinal canal at levels C3 through C6. The material for this investigation was made up of two main groups: A) 400 controls and B) 110 patients. The second group consisted of the following: 1) 20 patients suffering from Friedreich's Ataxia, 2) 14 patients with Steinert's disease, 3) 44 patients with lateral amyotrophic sclerosis, 4) 14 patients suffering from Charcot-Marie-Tooth's disease, and 5) 18 patients with muscular dystrophy. The results are as follow: 1) In patients with Friedreich's Ataxia both the sagittal and transversal diameters are smaller than those of the controls. 2) On the contrary, in Charcot-Marie-Tooth's disease the sagittal diameter is larger than the controls. 3) The transversal diameter in patients with muscular dystrophy is smaller than the controls and 4) the sagittal diameter of the vertebral canal decreases from the top (C3) downwards (C6) while the transversal diameter increases.