Unilateral Paraspinal Abscess

Abstract

In the past several years attention has been drawn to an important anatomical landmark in the study of lesions of the thoracic spine known as the linear thoracic paraspinal shadow or posteromesial pleural line (1, 4, 5, 6). In many lesions of the thoracic spine there is found to be a fusiform shadow produced by lateral displacement of the pleural borders which aids materially in the diagnosis of spinal disease in this region. It is the purpose of this paper to draw attention to the occurrence of unilateral displacement of this line, rather than the well recognized bilateral or fusiform shadow. Anatomy Careful anatomical studies by Lachman (6), Garland (5), and Brailsford (1) have demonstrated that on the left this posteromesial line is formed by the mediastinal pleural border of the left lung. In the lower portion of the thorax it lies perpendicular to the central rayon anteroposterior roentgenograms of the thorax. Normally the line lies immediately adjacent to and parallel to the lateral border of the th...