title: [Inverted axis scans in the study of the lumbo-sacral passage with computed tomography].
abstract: In the CT study of the lumbosacral spine, the disk spaces must be scanned along a plane which parallels the relative intervertebral disk perfectly. However, the lumbosacral space often happens to be too oblique--i.e., over the possible inclination of the gantry (usually: +/- 25 degrees). Thus, the somatic planes of the spine overlap. Therefore, in a series of 1,800 patients, the lumbosacral space was studied with the gantry inclined in the opposite direction to that in conventional scans, with the maximum angle allowed by our unit (-25 degrees). The incidence of negative findings for disk conditions was 7% (versus 13.5% with conventional CT). In both the negative and the positive cases, inversion CT scans were diagnostic in 594 patients (468 with disk herniation)--i.e., in 33% of cases.
authors.affiliation: Servizio di Radiologia, USSL 13 Regione Veneto, Ospedale di Montebelluna, Treviso.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Caracciolo
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Polverosi
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sbeghen
mesh_terms: D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D007405:Intervertebral Disc Displacement / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*
vernacular_title: Scansioni con asse inverso nello studio dello spazio di passaggio lombo-sacrale con Tomografia Computerizzata.