The Imaging and Clinical Character of Adolescent Thoracic Pedicle

Objective:To evaluate the imaging and clinical character of teenage thoracic pedicle.Methods:Morphometric data were obtained from 42 normal adolescent volunteer,the mean age of them was 12.4 years.All volunteer underwent anteroposterior and lateral radiographic examinations for thoracic spine,and 27 of which underwent transverse computerized tomographic images.The measurements included:(1) the transverse diameter of each segment pedicle.(2) the entry point and depth of screw.(3)the angle between a axial line of pedicle and the sagittal plane.According to the morphometric data,103 cases were treated with segment pedicle screw fixation correction.Results:The shortest transverse diameter of the thoracic pedicle was that of T 3(3.9±0.66)mm,the entry point of pedicle screw was situated between the superior edge and the midpoint of transverse process root,and the sagittal angles of thoracic spine were positive,not including T 11 ,T 12 .1082 wcress were insterted in 103 cases,and the incidence of penetrating through the medial cortex,lateral cortex of pedicle,or anterior cortex of vertebra was 18.6%,14.5% and 2.1% respectively.There was only one cases suffered from nerve relative complication because of the screw penetrating through the medial cortex,no severe complication occurred.Conclusion:The morphometric knowledge of each segment pedicle and its surrounding is of benefit to the imsertion of thoracic pedicle screw.