Morphometric Analysis of Cervical Spine Pedicles in an Indian Population

ABSTRACT

Introduction

The quantitative understanding of cervical pedicle morphology minimizes the injury to the neurovascular structure and improves the surgical outcome. This study aimed to investigate the morphometry of the cervical pedicle using Computerized CT scans.

Methods

The CT scan was performed in eleven cervical spine injury patients and the axial and sagittal images were used to calculate the four linear parameters–Outer pedicle width (OPW), inner pedicle width (IPW), pedicle height (PH), pedicle axis length (PAL) and the pedicle transverse angle (PTA).

Results

A total of 110 pedicles were measured and studied. The mean outer pedicle width, inner pedicle width, and pedicle height showed a gradual increase of the value from C3 to C7. The pedicle transverse angle showed maximum value at C4 vertebra and the minimum value at C7 vertebrae.

Conclusion

The study demonstrated that pedicle dimensions were small in comparison to the European and other Asian populations. To enhance the safety of cervical pedicle screw insertion, the pedicle dimensions and trajectories should be determined individually. The screw diameter should also be optimal to avoid pedicle violations because of narrow outer pedicle widths in our study population.