Position of conus medullaris termination in children: magnetic resonance imaging / 中华麻醉学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To determine the location of the conus medullaris termination (CMT) in children under the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).Methods:The children, aged 1 day to 15 yr, underwent MRI performed on the lumbosacral spine, were retrospectively analyzed.The CMT corresponding to the position of vertebral body was sequentially numbered.Each vertebral body was divided into upper (U), middle (M), and lower 1/3 unit (L), while the intervertebral disc was considered as an independent segment.From top to bottom of vertebral body, T 12-U1/3 was marked as 0, T 12-M1/3 was marked as 1, T 12-L1/3 was marked as 2, and T 12-L 1 was marked as 3, respectively.The children including male group and female group were divided into different age groups <1 month, 1-5 months, 6-11 months, 1 yr, 2-4 yr, 5-9 yr and 10-15 yr.The children were divided into male group (M group) and female group (F group) according to gender, and the positions of CMT were compared. Results:A total of 231 children were enrolled in this study, including 122 males and 109 females, aged (4±4) yr.The corresponding number for the position of CMT in children aged <1 month, 1-5 months, 6-11 months, 1 yr, 2-4 yr, 5-9 yr and 10-15 yr was 7.3±2.0, 7.3±2.3, 6.4±1.8, 6.5±2.6, 5.4±2.2, 5.5±1.8, and 5.0±1.8, respectively.There was no statistically significant difference in the position of CMT between group M and group F ( P>0.05). Conclusion:The corresponding number for the position of CMT is 7.3, 7.3, 6.4, 6.5, 5.4, 5.5 and 5.0 in children aged <1 month, 1-5 months, 6-11 months, 1 yr, 2-4 yr, 5-9 yr and 10-15 yr, respectively.