Ultrasound in medicine & biology
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Ultrasound Med Biol · Jun 2000
Comparative StudyIntervertebral disc structure: observation by a novel use of ultrasound imaging.
The internal structure of intervertebral discs is clinically important in the management of back pain. No current routine imaging modality is able to image disc structure satisfactorily. The aim of this work was to investigate and validate ultrasound imaging so that it might be applied to assessment of structural integrity and degree of degeneration. ⋯ The optimum disc imaging technique was found to be a posterolateral approach, 1 to 2 cm lateral of the dorsal midline, that revealed structure within the disc not apparent using other approaches. It was demonstrated that posterolateral imaging introduces a smaller reproducibility error in measurements of linear dimensions close to the disc. It is possible to observe internal structure within the disc between T11 and L3 in at least 54% of individuals.