Objective To explore the motion features of cervical spine based on continuous X-ray images.Methods The cervical spontaneous continuous multi-frame sagittal images from flexion to extention positions were selected from cervical spondylosis patients (patients group) and healthy adult (normal group).After preprocessing and registration,the trajectory of single vertebral body were recorded,and the feature points of each vertebral body were extracted.Meanwhile,the rel ative geometry parameters and movement rate were calculated.Results The motion trajectory of patients' cervical spine C4-6 were different from healthy people.The angles between the left edge curve of the vertebral body (C4 and C5 vertebra) and the baseline of patients group were smaller than those of normal group in flexion position (all P＜0.05).There were instability in the movement of C4 vertebral body in patient group,and the volatility of the angle change,the rate of change and the frequency were larger.The relative position change of the adjacent single vertebral body in the patient group are smaller.Conclusion Through the preprocessing,registration,parameter extraction and result analysis,the changes of functional features in cervical spondylosis patients are truly reflected.And it also provides a new idea for dynamic analysis of cervical vertebrae based on X-ray images.

Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of digital tomosynthesis in Schatzker classification of tibial plateau fractures.Methods A total of 43 patients with tibial plateau fractures who had underwent injured knee joints coronal tomosynthesis examinations and as well as digital radiography (DR) examinations including anteroposterior and lateral positions before the surgery were selected from January to June 2015.The imaging evaluation was performed by two diagnostic radiologists independently.Each radiologist consecutively performed Schatzker classification of the DR and tomosynthesis images of the knees of each patient.The consistent Schatzker classification results were finally given,while the inconsistent classification results were discussed.Recording the reading results of two methods and comparing the classification results of two methods with the subsequent intra-operative classification results,evaluating their consistency.Results Twenty-eight patients were included with 14 males and 14 females.The age ranged from 25 to 76 years old with an average of 48.5 years.Fifteen patients were excluded due to combined injuries and the low quality of imaging.Schatzker classification of tibial plateau fractures was performed with DR images,19 cases of fracture classification results were consistent with intra-operative classification,and 9 cases were inconsistent.Twenty-six cases of fracture classification results were consistent with intra-operative classification based on tomosynthesis images but 2 cases with inconsistent results.Intra-operative findings for each fracture were used as the gold standard for classification.The accuracy of the Schatzker classification for tibial plateau fractures were 68％ and 93％ in the two imaging techniques with significant difference (x2=5.143,P=0.016),respectively.The classification results of two imaging methods in 2 patients were both inconsistent with intra-operative classification.The fracture severity of 6 patients was underestimated when using DR images for interpretation,while 1 patient had a missed diagnosis of the lateral tibial plateau collapsed fracture.The consistency between the classification results of DR images as well as classification results of tomosynthesis images and intra-operative typing were moderately and highly consistent,respectively (Kappa coefficient were 0.604 and 0.908,respectively).Conclusion Schatzker classification of tibial plateau fractures was performed with DR images,the lateral tibial plateau collapsed fracture and the lateral plateau splitting fracture could be easily missed or misdiagnosed.However,tomosynthesis imaging could provide a higher accuracy.

Objective:To evaluate the feasibility of CT volume rendering technology in the assessment of the physeal bar in children.Methods:A retrospective analysis of the relevant CT data of 20 patients with physeal bar from January 2019 to December 2021, 13 boys and 7 girls, age 9.94±2.91 years. The etiology included 17 cases of trauma, 1 cases of tumor, and 2 cases of unknown. The affected sites included 9 cases of distal femur, 5 cases of proximal tibia, 3 cases of distal tibia, and 3 cases of distal radius. Evaluate using volume rendering technology and traditional surface reconstruction technology respectively and the index include the size and type of physeal bar.Results:All the children were successfully examined at one time, and none of them required sedation. The average exposure time was 3.81±0.83 s. During scanning, only low-dose radiation was performed on the affected joints, and routine radiation protection was performed. Using volume rendering technology to evaluate the proportion of the physeal bar, the results obtained by the three testers were 25.36%±15.36%, 24.75%±16.18%, 26.70%±17.72%, and the intraclass correlation coefficient value ( ICC) was 0.976, the three repeated measurements by one tester were 25.36%±15.36%, 25.41%±15.20%, 25.74%±16.00% ( ICC=0.990). Compared with the traditional curved planar reconstruction technical evaluation, the results obtained by the three testers were 28.36%±16.74%, 23.66%±19.87%, 35.25%±15.92% ( ICC=0.737), the three repeated measurement results by one tester were 28.36%±16.74%, 31.66%±13.06%, 30.89%±12.52% ( ICC=0.875). The volume rendering technology was better than the curved planar reconstruction technique. Paired t test was performed on the measurement results of three evaluators and the three repeated measurements of the same evaluator, and the differences were statistically significant ( P<0.05). The same results were acquired by using volume rendering technology to evaluate the type of phseal bar with three testers; but there were 18 cases had the same results by using curved planar reconstruction technology and 2 cases had differences, showing the volume rendering technology was more accurate. Conclusion:Low-dose CT scanning volume rendering technology is an effective method to evaluate the physeal bar in children. It can more intuitively and accurately evaluate the proportion and type of the bar while reducing the radiation exposure of children. The consistency with inter-group and intra-group is better than traditional curved planar reconstruction technique with good reproducibility and clinical significance.

Objective:To investigate the relationship between the CT images of a lateral condylar tibial plateau fractures and complete medial collateral ligament (MCL) injury.Methods:Data of 59 patients with lateral condylar fracture of tibial plateau complicated with MCL injury admitted to Tianjin Hospital from January 2020 to November 2021 were collected, including 32 males and 27 females, aged 42.4±12.3 years (range, 19-65 years), there were 26 cases of extension injury and 33 cases of flexion injury. The patients were separated into two groups: those with partial MCL injury and those with total rupture based on preoperative MR examination and intraoperative valgus stress test following fracture fixation. According to the ABC fracture classification of lateral condyle tibial plateau proposed by Sun et al., the fracture locations were determined on CT images, and the lateral plateau collapse depth (LPD) was measured. The relationship between LPD and MCL complete rupture was analyzed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.Results:Among 59 patients with lateral condylar tibial plateau fracture and MCL injury, 42 had partial injuries and 17 had complete ruptures. According to the ABC fracture classification, there were 26 cases of extension injury (involving area A), 21 cases of AB type, and 5 cases of ABC type; and 33 cases of flexion type injury, 19 cases of B type, 12 cases of BC type, and 2 cases of C type. All the 17 cases of MCL complete fracture occurred in extension injury, including type AB (14 cases) and type ABC (3 cases). The difference between the mean LPDs of the MCL full rupture group and the partial injury group was not statistically significant ( t=0.11, P=0.567), and the mean LPDs of both groups were 11.7±5.3 mm (range, 4.3-28.1 mm) and 11.5±4.8 mm (range, 3.8-23.6 mm), respectively. The area under the curve (AUC) of the ROC curve analysis was 0.504, and there was no statistical correlation between lateral platform collapse depth and MCL injury. Among the 26 patients with extensional injury area, MCL was completely ruptures in 17 cases and partially injury in 9 cases, LPD was 11.7±5.3 mm (range, 4.3-28.1 mm) and 6.6±1.8 mm (range, 3.8-9.4 mm), respectively, and the difference was statistically significant ( t=3.57, P=0.009). The best predictive cut-off value of LPD was 7.25 mm, the sensitivity was 88.2%, the specificity was 77.8%, and the AUC was 0.868. Conclusion:When the lateral condyle fracture of the tibial plateau is located in the extensional injury area (involving the A area in the ABC fracture classification) and the LPD measured on the CT image is greater than 7.25 mm, the complete rupture of the MCL should be considered. Clinical MCL repair is required after the fracture fixation surgery for improved surgical outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation between the stenosis degree of superior mesenteric artery (SMA) and each artery within the scope of aorto-iliac artery in patients with lower extremity atherosclerotic occlusive disease (LEAOD). METHODS: Images of 70 patients who had undergone the aorta-iliac-femoral arteries CT angiography (CTA) examination and had a definite diagnosis of LEAOD due to intermittent claudication or resting pain admitted to Tianjin Hospital from January to December in 2017 were enrolled. The arteries in the aorta as well as iliac were surface-reconstructed, which were analyzed by advanced vascular analysis (AVA) combined with the original images, including SMA trunk, abdominal aorta (AA), left and right common iliac artery (LCIA, RCIA), left and right internal iliac artery (LIIA, RIIA), left and right external iliac artery (LEIA, REIA). The normal reference plane and the maximal stenosis plane were selected, and the stenosis rate of each artery in the reconstruction range was automatically calculated with software. The patient's imaging data were divided into groups with two methods: (1) according to the degree of SMA stenosis, the patients were divided into group I (stenosis degree ≤70%) and group II (stenosis degree > 70%); (2) LEAOD patients with different gender were respectively divided into three groups: middle-aged group (45-59 years old), pre-elderly group (60-74 years old) and elderly group (75-89 years old). The comparison between the stenosis degree of SMA and each artery within the scope of aorto-iliac artery was analyzed with Pearson simple correlation analysis. RESULTS: The incidence of SMA stenosis in all LEAOD patients was 100%. Correlation analysis showed that there was no correlation between the stenosis degree of SMA and AA, LCIA, RCIA, LIIA, RIIA, LEIA, or REIA in group I (n = 64) and group II (n = 6), respectively (r value was -0.021, 0.023, 0.023, -0.137, 0.182, -0.113, 0.141, respectively, in group I, and it was 0.020, -0.560, 0.010, 0.306, -0.204, -0.381, 0.393, respectively, in group II, all P > 0.05). In 52 male patients, there was no correlation between the stenosis degree of SMA and AA, LCIA, RCIA, LIIA, RIIA, LEIA, or REIA in middle-aged group (n = 16), pre-elderly group (n = 27) and elderly group (n = 9), respectively (r value was -0.032, 0.024, 0.324, 0.146, 0.312, 0.008, 0.344, respectively, in middle-aged group, it was -0.108, -0.116, -0.040, -0.249, -0.082, -0.052, 0.096, respectively, in pre-elderly group, and it was 0.182, 0.311, 0.400, 0.360, 0.688, 0.498, 0.406, respectively, in elderly group, all P > 0.05). In 18 female patients, there was also no correlation between the stenosis degree of SMA and above each artery within the scope of aorto-iliac artery in pre-elderly group (n = 11) and elderly group (n = 6), respectively (the r value was -0.170, 0.040, -0.019, 0.152, 0.508, 0.042, 0.456, respectively, in pre-elderly group, and it was -0.660, 0.008, -0.055, -0.056, -0.213, 0.344, 0.011, respectively, in elderly group, all P > 0.05). The correlation in middle-aged group was not analyzed because there was only 1 patient. CONCLUSIONS Although the atherosclerotic changes in LEAOD patients can affect SMA and aorto-iliac artery at the same time, there was no correlation between the stenosis degree of SMA and each artery within the scope of aorto-iliac artery which may due to the differences in the histological structure and hemodynamics among different arteries. SMA atherosclerotic stenosis and occlusion is a relatively independent disease process for LEAOD.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Computed Tomography Angiography ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Female ; Humans ; Iliac Artery ; Lower Extremity ; Male ; Mesenteric Artery, Superior ; Middle Aged

Objective: To investigate the correlation between the stenosis degree of superior mesenteric artery (SMA) and each artery within the scope of aorto-iliac artery in patients with lower extremity atherosclerotic occlusive disease (LEAOD). Methods: Images of 70 patients who had undergone the aorta-iliac-femoral arteries CT angiography (CTA) examination and had a definite diagnosis of LEAOD due to intermittent claudication or resting pain admitted to Tianjin Hospital from January to December in 2017 were enrolled. The arteries in the aorta as well as iliac were surface-reconstructed, which were analyzed by advanced vascular analysis (AVA) combined with the original images, including SMA trunk, abdominal aorta (AA), left and right common iliac artery (LCIA, RCIA), left and right internal iliac artery (LIIA, RIIA), left and right external iliac artery (LEIA, REIA). The normal reference plane and the maximal stenosis plane were selected, and the stenosis rate of each artery in the reconstruction range was automatically calculated with software. The patient's imaging data were divided into groups with two methods: ① according to the degree of SMA stenosis, the patients were divided into group Ⅰ (stenosis degree ≤70%) and groupⅡ (stenosis degree > 70%); ② LEAOD patients with different gender were respectively divided into three groups: middle-aged group (45-59 years old), pre-elderly group (60-74 years old) and elderly group (75-89 years old). The comparison between the stenosis degree of SMA and each artery within the scope of aorto-iliac artery was analyzed with Pearson simple correlation analysis. Results: The incidence of SMA stenosis in all LEAOD patients was 100%. Correlation analysis showed that there was no correlation between the stenosis degree of SMA and AA, LCIA, RCIA, LIIA, RIIA, LEIA, or REIA in group Ⅰ (n = 64) and group Ⅱ (n = 6), respectively (r value was -0.021, 0.023, 0.023, -0.137, 0.182, -0.113, 0.141, respectively, in group Ⅰ, and it was 0.020, -0.560, 0.010, 0.306, -0.204, -0.381, 0.393, respectively, in group Ⅱ, all P > 0.05). In 52 male patients, there was no correlation between the stenosis degree of SMA and AA, LCIA, RCIA, LIIA, RIIA, LEIA, or REIA in middle-aged group (n = 16), pre-elderly group (n = 27) and elderly group (n = 9), respectively (r value was -0.032, 0.024, 0.324, 0.146, 0.312, 0.008, 0.344, respectively, in middle-aged group, it was -0.108, -0.116, -0.040, -0.249, -0.082, -0.052, 0.096, respectively, in pre-elderly group, and it was 0.182, 0.311, 0.400, 0.360, 0.688, 0.498, 0.406, respectively, in elderly group, all P > 0.05). In 18 female patients, there was also no correlation between the stenosis degree of SMA and above each artery within the scope of aorto-iliac artery in pre-elderly group (n = 11) and elderly group (n = 6), respectively (the r value was -0.170, 0.040, -0.019, 0.152, 0.508, 0.042, 0.456, respectively, in pre-elderly group, and it was -0.660, 0.008, -0.055, -0.056, -0.213, 0.344, 0.011, respectively, in elderly group, all P > 0.05). The correlation in middle-aged group was not analyzed because there was only 1 patient. Conclusions Although the atherosclerotic changes in LEAOD patients can affect SMA and aorto-iliac artery at the same time, there was no correlation between the stenosis degree of SMA and each artery within the scope of aorto-iliac artery which may due to the differences in the histological structure and hemodynamics among different arteries. SMA atherosclerotic stenosis and occlusion is a relatively independent disease process for LEAOD.