title: Congenital abnormalities of the ribs: evaluation with multidetector computed tomography.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate congenital abnormalities of ribs using multidetector computed tomography.
  
  
  METHODS
  The retrospective study was conducted at Mustafa Kemal University Research Hospital, Hatay, Turkey and comprised data of patients aged 1-45 years who attended the Radiology Department for computed tomography of the thorax between January 2010 and July 2013. Multiplanar reconstructions, maximum intensity projections, and 3-dimensional images were acquired to investigate numerical and structural abnormalities of the ribs of the patients who underwent multidetector computed tomography for a variety of indications.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study comprised 650 patients. Of them, 231(35.5%) were female and 419(64.5%) male. The overall mean age was 20.9± 5.1years. However, data of 90(13.8%) patients was excluded from cervical rib evaluation and of 120(18.5%) from lumbar rib evaluation as these regions were out of the section because of the positioning. Finally, 560(86.5%) patients were included in the cervical rib evaluations, and 530(81.5%) in the lumbar rib evaluations. All the 650(100%) patients were included in the thoracic rib evaluations. Numerical abnormalities were observed in cervical ribs in 19(3.6%), in thoracic ribs in 1(0.15%) and in lumbar ribs in 7(1.3%) cases. The structural abnormalities were bifid rib in 44(6.7%) and fused type in 17(2.6%) cases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Multidetector computed tomography enabled evaluation of the thoracic cage as a whole.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Mustafa Kemal University, School of Medicine, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ramazan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Davran
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Mustafa Kemal University, School of Medicine, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hanifi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bayarogullari
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Mustafa Kemal University, School of Medicine, Turkey.
authors.forename: Nesrin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Atci
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Mustafa Kemal University, School of Medicine, Turkey.
authors.forename: Alperen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kayali
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Mustafa Kemal University, School of Medicine, Turkey.
authors.forename: Fatma
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ozturk
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Mustafa Kemal University, School of Medicine, Turkey.
authors.forename: Gulen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Burakgazi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D061330:Multidetector Computed Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D009139:Musculoskeletal Abnormalities / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012272:Ribs / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Rib, congenital abnormality, multidetector computed tomography.