title: Morphological character of cervical spine for anterior transpedicular screw fixation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Anterior cervical interbody grafts/cages combined with a plate were frequently used in multilevel discectomies/corpectomies. In order to avoid additional posterior stabilization in patients who undergo anterior reconstructive surgery, an anterior cervical transpedicular screw fixation, which offers higher stability is desirable. We investigated in this study the anatomical (morphologic) characters for cervical anterior transpedicular screw fixation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Left pedicle parameters were measured on computed tomography (CT) images based on 36 cervical spine CT scans from healthy subjects. The parameters included outer pedicle width (Distance from lateral to medial pedicle surface in the coronal plane), outer pedicle height (OPH) (Distance from upper to lower pedicle surface in the sagittal plane), maximal pedicle axis length (MPAL), distance transverse insertion point (DIP), distance of the insertion point to the upper end plate (DIUP), pedicle sagittal transverse angle (PSTA) and pedicle transverse angle (PTA) at C3 to C7.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The values of outer pedicle width and MPAL in males were larger than in females from C3 to C7. The OPH in males was larger than in females at C3 to C6, but there was no difference at C7. The DIP and PTA were significantly greater in males than in females at C3, but there was no difference in the angle at C4-7. The PSTA was not statistically different between genders at C3, 4, 7, but this value in males was larger than females at C5, 6. The DIUP was significantly greater in males at C3, 4, 6, 7 but was non significant at C5.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The placement of cervical anterior transpedicular screws should be individualized for each patient and based on a detailed preoperative planning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, The Second and The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, JiangXi, China.
authors.forename: Rong-Ping
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, The Second and The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, JiangXi, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, The Second and The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, JiangXi, China.
authors.forename: Zi-Chun
authors.initials: ZC
authors.lastname: Zhan
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, The Second and The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, JiangXi, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, The Second and The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, JiangXi, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Li
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Guangzhou General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Region, Guangzhou, Guangdong, PR, China.
authors.forename: Qing-Shui
authors.initials: QS
authors.lastname: Yin
keywords: Cervical anterior pedicle screw; corpectomy; pedicle parameter