title: Technique for injection of the lumbar vertebral venous plexuses employed in anatomic, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging studies.
abstract: The aim of this study was to develop a technique for injection of the vertebral venous plexuses allowing anatomic, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of the same anatomic specimen. It proved in practice that only a correctly adjusted mixture of different agents allowed attainment of this objective. This mixture, composed of gelatin, gadolinium and minium, enabled us to attain this end. The description of the technique of injecting the vertebral venous plexuses, the difficulties encountered and the results of the different imaging techniques are analysed in this study without entering into details of the anatomic description. The core of the study consists of 11 unembalmed subjects. Three were injected with gelatin mixed with gadolinium, one with latex mixed with minium, one with latex mixed with gadolinium, and 6 with gelatin mixed with both gadolinium and minium. Only the mixture of gelatin-gadolinium-minium allowed study of the same anatomic specimen in terms of anatomy, CT and MRI. Two different MRI sequences are described, evidence of the different properties of the injection mixture (gelatin, gadolinium). The latex-minium mixture gave good CT density but was unsuitable for MRI studies. Numerous artifacts caused interference with the radiologic images, calling for perfect injection technique. The use of several radiologic techniques for a single cadaveric injection allows better correlation of the images, and comparison and verification of results between the techniques.
authors.affiliation: Institut d'Anatomie, Paris V-Necker, Paris, France.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Plaisant
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Sarrazin
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gillot
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Lassau
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002102:Cadaver; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D005682:Gadolinium; D005780:Gelatin; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D007278:Injections, Spinal; D007840:Latex; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000098:blood supply / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D007840:Latex; D005780:Gelatin; D005682:Gadolinium