title: The nuclear trial sign in thoracic herniated disks.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Postmyelography CT studies of 84 patients with 114 thoracic herniated disks were reviewed for endplate irregularity, sclerosis, and/or disk-space calcification that could suggest a migratory path of the herniated fragment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Abnormal straight or curvilinear densities (the "nuclear trial sign") were present at the level of the disk or endplate in 46% of the cases. MR studies of 35 thoracic herniated disks were also examined. Similar changes were likewise present in 44%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The frequent occurrence of this finding in the mid and lower thoracic spine renders it a useful secondary sign for thoracic herniated disks, although false positives do occur.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, St. Louis University Medical Center, MO 63110-0250.
authors.forename: E E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Awwad
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: K R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007405:Intervertebral Disc Displacement / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009192:Myelography; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed