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Diagnostic Imaging in the Degenerative Diseases of the Cervical Spine

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Cervical Spine

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Abstract

The aim of this chapter would be to help the clinician, with the support of imaging, in the diagnosis of patients whith degenerative changes of the cervical spine, and to make differential diagnoses with other specific diseases.

The knowledge of the anatomy of the osteo-discal-ligamentous complex, with particular focus to the intervertebral joints, that represent the primary targets of degeneration and cause of symptoms, is fundamental, as is the capability of how to choose the best imaging modality, in order to make a correct diagnostic evaluation of the cervical spine and also to follow and understand the evolution of the disease. In this scenario, MRI certainly represents the best imaging modality, especially in the cervical segment where other investigation methods, such as radiography and computed tomography, do not have the same diagnostic accuracy.

In this chapter the basic findings in the degenerative diseases (disk degeneration, spondylosis, cervical facet joint arthropathy and the ligament degeneration), and how to recognize the evolution towards the phase of instability of the cervical spine will be explained. We will also illustrate the main findings, combining data from Rx, TC and MRI, of the degenerative disease of cranio-cervical junction and cervical axial segments with the support of images from clinical cases, focusing on the cervical disk herniation and the spinal stenosis.

Finally, specific degenerative disease that may have elements in common with each other but which require specific therapies will be discussed. The clinician will therefore find the major pathological signs in the various imaging modalities about the rheumatoid arthritis, the Crowned dens syndrome, the retro-odontoid pseudotumor, the diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis, the ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament and flaval ligaments, the destructive spondyloarthropaty in long-term hemodialyzed patients and the calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiological Sciences, Radiology/Neuroradiology Institute, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Polyclinic A. Gemelli, School of Medicine, Rome, Italy

    Giuseppe Maria Di Lella, Alessandro Maria Costantini, Edoardo Monelli, Giulia Guerri, Antonio Leone & Cesare Colosimo

Authors
  1. Giuseppe Maria Di Lella
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  2. Alessandro Maria Costantini
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  3. Edoardo Monelli
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  4. Giulia Guerri
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  5. Antonio Leone
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  6. Cesare Colosimo
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Correspondence to Giuseppe Maria Di Lella .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Spine Center, Rome American Hospital, Rome, Italy

    Pier Paolo Maria Menchetti

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Di Lella, G.M., Costantini, A.M., Monelli, E., Guerri, G., Leone, A., Colosimo, C. (2022). Diagnostic Imaging in the Degenerative Diseases of the Cervical Spine. In: Menchetti, P.P.M. (eds) Cervical Spine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94829-0_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94829-0_3

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