Computed tomography in the diagnosis of thoracic disk protrusions with a technical suggestion.
4 cases of thoracic disk protrusion were studied with spinal CT and with either plain X rays of myelography, until now the only tools for a precise diagnosis. In patients with a thoracic compression syndrome and a calcification within the canal CT alone clinches the diagnosis, as it does in cases in which the calcified material is not detectable but the clinical symptoms point to a precise lesion level. In such cases myelography is unnecessary. It should however be done first when neither the clinical symptoms nor the plain X rays indicate the level of the lesion.
D000328:Adult; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007405:Intervertebral Disc Displacement / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009192:Myelography; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*