Measurements of the normal cervical spinal cord on MR imaging.

The purpose of this study was to determine normal measurements of the C1-T3 spinal cord in anteroposterior and transverse planes from MR images and to compare these with previously published data. Seven hundred and fifty-six measurements were made from 66 randomly selected MR studies of the cervical spine. We measured the anteroposterior and transverse diameters of the cord at each vertebral level and computed the simple product of these diameters to provide a single useful numerical value, termed the approximate cord area (ACA). The cord varies in average anteroposterior and transverse diameters from 8.8 mm x 12.4 mm at C2 to 8.7 mm x 14 mm at C4 to 7.4 mm x 11.4 mm at C7. The cervical enlargement was found from C4 to C6 and was most evident by comparing the ACA values. At C2 the average ACA was 110 mm2, at C4 it was 121.9 mm2, and at C7 the average ACA was 84.6 mm2. Comparison of our data with the literature reveals disparate measurements that vary up to 6 mm from our mean values. However, our results correlated well with the postmortem studies of Nordquist (1964). A single number cannot be used as the basis for evaluating spinal cord size. Each level should be compared with the normal range specific for that level.

Intracellular processing of epidermal growth factor by early wound healing cells.

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) is a potent 53-amino-acid residue polypeptide that has been implicated in normal wound healing. Although past studies have shown that locally applied EGF accelerates wound healing, these studies have not examined intracellular events related to the processing of the growth factor. The objective of this study was to characterize both initial and later postbinding intracellular processing of EGF by a responsive cell line (osteoblasts) that is important in the healing of wounds. Cloned mouse calvarial osteoblasts (MC-3TC-E1) were incubated with radiolabeled EGF, with and without preincubation with nonlabeled EGF, for specific time intervals. Cell-associated radioactivity was characterized by nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Results showed that EGF is processed as three distinct species and that the relative proportions of these species are altered at later time periods when compared with initial processing. The patterns, similar to those reported for human fibroblasts, indicate a possible common pathway for the mitogenic signal in cells associated with the early events of wound healing. In addition, these data represent the first direct evidence that preexposure of cells to nonlabeled EGF alters the processing of radiolabeled EGF. This is significant, because cells must be exposed to EGF for 5 to 8 hours to elicit a growth response. Such data may help to explain the "lag phase" of wound healing.