title: [Indications for x-rays of the skull and cervical spine: an open question].
abstract: During the first six months of 1990, a study was carried out on a group of patients examined at the Neuroradiology Department of a Neurological Institute for skull and cervical spine X-rays. Kind of disturbances, the examination prescribed and patients' places of origin were taken into consideration. We studied 174 patients: 108 suffering from headache, 28 from cervical arthrosis, and the others from miscellaneous diseases. Male/Female ratio (M/F) was lower in the group affected by headache; the age was more advanced in the group affected by cervical arthrosis. Skull X-rays were usually normal in headache patients; cervical X-rays were not informative in cervical arthrosis patients. We can conclude that only through a different relationship between the prescribing physician and the Radiologist it will be possible to approach the justification and optimization criteria of medical radiological exposure.
authors.affiliation: Clinica Neurologica Università di Pavia.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Montalbetti
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Citterio
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Uggetti
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ferrandi
mesh_terms: D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006261:Headache / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D010007:Osteochondritis / Q000175:diagnosis; D011859:Radiography; D012737:Sex Factors; D012886:Skull / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*
vernacular_title: Indicazioni alle radiografie del cranio e della colonna cervicale: problematica aperta.