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

Received: 15 June 2021     Accepted: 5 July 2021     Published: 21 July 2021
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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.

Published in International Journal of Medical Imaging (Volume 9, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijmi.20210903.12
Page(s) 141-148
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

High Frequency Ultrasound, Cervical Spondylosis, Degeneration of Cervical Vertebra, Cervical Nerve Root, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Intervertebral Foramen

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Fang Luo, Jun Chen, Shan Wu, Shan He. (2021). Ultrasonographic Characteristics of Cervical Nerve Roots in Patients with the Degeneration of Cervical Vertebra. International Journal of Medical Imaging, 9(3), 141-148. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijmi.20210903.12

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    ACS Style

    Fang Luo; Jun Chen; Shan Wu; Shan He. Ultrasonographic Characteristics of Cervical Nerve Roots in Patients with the Degeneration of Cervical Vertebra. Int. J. Med. Imaging 2021, 9(3), 141-148. doi: 10.11648/j.ijmi.20210903.12

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    AMA Style

    Fang Luo, Jun Chen, Shan Wu, Shan He. Ultrasonographic Characteristics of Cervical Nerve Roots in Patients with the Degeneration of Cervical Vertebra. Int J Med Imaging. 2021;9(3):141-148. doi: 10.11648/j.ijmi.20210903.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijmi.20210903.12,
      author = {Fang Luo and Jun Chen and Shan Wu and Shan He},
      title = {Ultrasonographic Characteristics of Cervical Nerve Roots in Patients with the Degeneration of Cervical Vertebra},
      journal = {International Journal of Medical Imaging},
      volume = {9},
      number = {3},
      pages = {141-148},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijmi.20210903.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijmi.20210903.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijmi.20210903.12},
      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.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Ultrasonographic Characteristics of Cervical Nerve Roots in Patients with the Degeneration of Cervical Vertebra
    AU  - Fang Luo
    AU  - Jun Chen
    AU  - Shan Wu
    AU  - Shan He
    Y1  - 2021/07/21
    PY  - 2021
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijmi.20210903.12
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijmi.20210903.12
    T2  - International Journal of Medical Imaging
    JF  - International Journal of Medical Imaging
    JO  - International Journal of Medical Imaging
    SP  - 141
    EP  - 148
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-832X
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijmi.20210903.12
    AB  - 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.
    VL  - 9
    IS  - 3
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Neurology, The Affiliated Hosptial of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China

  • Department of Neurology, The Affiliated Hosptial of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China

  • Department of Neurology, The Affiliated Hosptial of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China

  • Department of Neurology, The Affiliated Hosptial of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China

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