title: Radiography versus spiral CT in the evaluation of cervicothoracic junction injuries in polytrauma patients who have undergone intubation.
abstract: A prospective study was performed over a 1-year period in patients who had sustained blunt trauma, mostly in motor vehicle accidents. All 73 patients (56 male and 17 female; age range, 2-94 years; mean age, 35.2 years) in the study had undergone intubation and ventilation at the trauma site (mean Glasgow Coma Score, 9.9 [range, 3-15]; mean Injury Severity Score, 30.4 [range, 8-75]) and subsequently underwent three-view radiography of the cervical spine and thin-section spiral computed tomography (CT) of the cervicothoracic junction. Spinal fractures were detected in 20 patients and involved the cervicothoracic junction region in 12 cases. In all 12 patients, the fractures were visualized at CT, whereas in seven of 12 patients, conventional radiography failed to demonstrate injuries (transverse process fracture of T1 [n = 1], pedicle and vertebral body fracture of C7 [n = 1], fractures of the first and second ribs [n = 5]). Thus, routine CT of the cervicothoracic junction in a highly select group of severely injured patients helped detect occult fracture in seven of 73 patients (10%); however, most of these fractures were not clinically significant. Larger studies involving a high-risk patient population are needed to confirm these findings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel, London E1 1BB, England. louisejelly@hotmail.com
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Jelly
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Easty
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Coats
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D007442:Intubation, Intratracheal; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009104:Multiple Trauma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012121:Respiration, Artificial; D012253:Rib Fractures / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D016103:Spinal Fractures / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D014949:Wounds, Nonpenetrating