Ultrasonographic Characteristics of Cervical Nerve Roots in Patients with the Degeneration of Cervical Vertebra

Abstract

Background: Brachial plexus injury is a complex nerve injury. This may be due to the anatomical complexity of the brachial plexus. Purpose: To obtain sonographic characteristics and oblique sagittal diameter of cervical nerve root by high frequency ultrasound, and the morphology of brachial plexus was described. Methods: Two hundred and twenty-one subjects were recruited in our ultrasonography laboratory between March and December 2016. Their ultrasonographic characteristics of bilateral brachial plexus and cervical nerve roots were obtained by ultrasound, and they were measured with high echo sites on the bone cortex of anterior or posterior tubercles as positioning points in oblique sagittal. Results: 1. Cross-sectional sonogram of brachial plexus showed round and (or) oval “uniform” hypoechoic masses in the gap between anterior scalene muscle with middle scalene muscle, which were arranged in an arc shape; uniform low echo detected in short axis section and long axis section imaging of nerve bundles, which were wrapped by slightly hyper echoic epineuria. 2. Ultrasonographic imaging demonstrated that cervical nerve roots arranged between anterior tubercle and posterior tubercle, and the displaying rate of nerve roots of C4 to C7 was 100%; the displaying rate of nerve root of C8 was 78%. 3. Normal values of the diameters of cervicalr root nerves at intervertebral foramen were: C4, 2.65±0.27 mm; C5, 3.33±0.33 mm; C6, 3.76±0.36 mm; C7, 4.84±0.30 mm; C8, 3.48±0.34 mm. Conclusion: 1. Oblique sagittal imaging, nerve root of C7 is the thickest among all nerve roots of all examinee; 2. The diameter that of cervical nerve root of C4 may be positively correlated with the height.