• Spine J · Jan 2010

    Single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) scan-positive facet joints and other spinal structures in a hospital-wide population with spinal pain.

    • Daoud Makki, Rabi Khazim, Abu Amar Zaidan, Kuppuswamy Ravi, and Tagreed Toma.
    • Department of Orthopaedics, Southend Hospital, Essex, SS0 0RY, United Kingdom. daoudmakki@doctors.net.uk
    • Spine J. 2010 Jan 1;10(1):58-62.

    Background ContextThe current criterion standard for zygapophyseal (facet) joint pain diagnosis is placebo-controlled triple comparative local anesthetic facet joint or medial branch blocks. Single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) scanning is a less invasive modality that has been widely used in patients with spinal pain for the diagnosis of facet joint arthritis. Previous studies have shown that SPECT results correlate well with response to facet joints steroid injections.PurposeTo evaluate the prevalence of SPECT scan-positive facet joints and other spinal areas in different age groups in a hospital-wide population with spinal pain.Study DesignRetrospective study.MethodsThis study included 534 patients who underwent a SPECT scan for spinal pain over 7.5 years in our hospital. All referrals from all doctors for any cervical or lumbar spinal pain were included, and the results were reviewed.ResultsA total of 486 patients (91.1%) had at least one positive abnormality on SPECT scan; 81.3% had increased uptake in different structures and regions of the spine. This included 42.8% increased uptake in the facet joint 29.8% in the vertebral bodies/end plates, and 5.9% in sacroiliac joints. The prevalence of increased uptake in the lumbosacral and cervical spine was 44% and 37%, respectively. When patients were divided into five age groups (below 40, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, and 70 years and older), there was a significantly higher increased prevalence in advancing age groups.ConclusionsIn a hospital-wide population with spinal pain, there is a 42.88% prevalence of increased uptake in the facet joint on SPECT. The incidence increases significantly with advancing age. SPECT can play a role in investigating patients with spinal pain.Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

      Pubmed     Full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…