Clinical application of horizontal cross rotatory tomography to air-myelography of cervical spine and its significance in cervical spondylosis

Abstract

Horizontal cross rotatory tomography has been used with air myelography of the cervical spine to study the pathogenesis of myelopathy in cervical spondylosis. In an experimental investigation, a model of the neck was made of “Phantom Mix-DP”. The optimum X-ray conditions and the significance of the air shadow were studied by using this model. Normal air-myelographs were obtained and studied in 25 healthy adults free from abnormalities in the cervical spine or cervical cord, and the areas of the spinal canal were measured using the planimeter. Horizontal cross rotatory tomography with airmyelography of cervical spine was performed in 57 cases with myelopathy due to cervical spondylosis and ossification of the longitudinal ligament of the cervical spine. The patients were classified into groups according to morphological findings and the clinical significance of these findings was studied with reference to cord compression. This technique was valuable as a supplementary investigation for diseases of the cervical spine and the cervical cord.