title: Widening of the spinal canal and dural ectasia in Marfan's syndrome: assessment by CT.
abstract: We describe a method for diagnosing dural ectasia (DE) and spinal canal widening (SCW) using CT. We examined 23 patients with Marfan's syndrome (MFS), 17 with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) and 29 normal subjects, using six axial slices at the level of the L1-S1 pedicles. Transverse diameters of the vertebral bodies, spinal canal and dural sac were measured and indices were defined to differentiate patients with DE and SCW from normal. Statistical significance was assessed using Student's t -test, chi (2)-test and Pearson's correlation coefficient. DE and SCW occurred in 69.6 % and 60.9 % of cases of MFS and in 23.5 % and 35.3 % of EDS respectively. In MFS, prevalence was significantly higher than in the control group. DE was significantly more frequent in MFS than in EDS. A strong correlation existed between DE and SCW in MFS and the control group, but not in EDS. Our system enables quantitative assessment of SCW and DE. The latter is particularly important in subjects suspected of having MFS, in whom it is a common and characteristic sign.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University Hospital, De Pintelaan 185, B-9000 Gent, Belgium. Geert.Villeirs@rug.ac.be
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Villeirs
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Van Tongerloo
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Verstraete
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Kunnen
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: De Paepe
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D004108:Dilatation, Pathologic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D004388:Dura Mater / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D004535:Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008297:Male; D008382:Marfan Syndrome / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012447:Sacrum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013115:Spinal Canal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed