• K Venugopal Menon and Sameer B Raniga.
• Department of Orthopedics, Khoula Hospital, Mina al Fahal, Muscat, Oman. Electronic address: kvm422@gmail.com.
• World Neurosurg. 2018 Feb 1; 110: 526-532.e10.

BackgroundTo date, trabecular morphology studies have been conducted on thin-section computed tomography (CT) scans of cadaveric bone. Here we describe the trabecular anatomy of the axis vertebra as revealed by an innovative imaging tool.MethodsTen patients who underwent thin-slice CT scans for suspected cervical spine injury were prospectively subjected to shaded volume-rendered 3-dimensional reconstruction of the images. The trabecular anatomy thus depicted was recreated, and the mechanical vectors were deduced independently by a senior radiologist and spine surgeon and then matched. The clinical implications were postulated.ResultsThe most striking trabeculae are the vertical compression trabeculae connecting the C1 facet to the C3 body. The center of the body of C2 has a space with sparse trabeculae; similarly, the pars interarticularis also has a clear void. The dens contain predominantly tensile trabeculae that are retained even in older patients. Midline remnants of the odontoid body synchondrosis persist even into late adulthood.ConclusionsShaded volume-rendered imaging appears to be an excellent tool for studying the trabecular anatomy of cancellous bone. The weight-bearing trabeculae run from the C1-2 facet to the C3 body; the inferior facet contributes little to weight-bearing.Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

24 keywords...

hide…