[Nonspecific osteomyelitis in childhood and adolescence. The contribution of imaging diagnosis]. / Osteomieliti aspecifiche dell'infanzia e dell'adolescenza. Contributo della diagnostica per immagini.

Nonspecific osteomyelitis in children and adolescents can be diagnosed in patients 2 to 16 years old and may present as acute, subacute or chronic. During the last 9 years, 40 pediatric patients (aged 2 to 16 years) affected with extra-axial inflammatory bone lesions were examined. The series of cases was then reviewed. This work was aimed at investigating the role of various imaging modalities: conventional radiology (CR), bone scan with technetium-99 methylene diphosphonate (99mTc-MDP), scintigraphy with technetium-esamethylpropylenaminoxima labelled leukocytes (99mTc-HMPAO), computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were used to detect the lesions, to make a differential diagnosis and to assess different disease stages. As for acute osteomyelitis (6 patients), CR showed a lytic lesion, periosteal new bone and soft tissue swelling in 4/6 patients; no abnormalities were demonstrated in the other two. Bone scan, CT and MRI depicted bone involvement. CT and MRI also showed inflammatory lesion spread to surrounding soft tissue. 99mTc-HMPAO scintigraphy was not performed in acute osteomyelitis, because of technical difficulties in performing the exam promptly; thus, the early diagnosis of lesion nature was made with bone biopsy. As for subacute osteomyelitis (23 patients), 99mTc-HMPAO scintigraphy was performed in 8/23 patients and proved to be a highly sensitive method, showing cell clusters and confirming the diagnosis of inflammatory lesion. MRI showed a focal area of intermediate-low signal intensity on T1-weighted sequences, with small focal intralesional areas of low intensity, a low-signal perifocal rim and diffusely low signal of surrounding bone marrow. T2-weighted images showed high signal intensity in both the abscess lesion and bone marrow, the latter probably due to edema. In 5 patients, a paramagnetic contrast agent (Gd-DTPA) was administered during MRI and showed inhomogeneous enhancement of both the inflammatory lesion and surrounding bone marrow. As for chronic osteomyelitis (7 patients), MRI was performed in 5/7 patients. In 4 patients the lesion appeared as a low-signal area on T1-weighted images while T2-weighted images showed an inhomogeneous high-signal area. In the same patients, 99mTc-HMPAO scintigraphy was always positive. In patient 5, the lesion was represented by a low-signal area on both T1 and T2-weighted images, while 99mTc-HMPAO was negative. Therefore, in chronic osteomyelitis, both MRI and 99mTc-HMPAO were useful in detecting both spinal and peripheral bone involvement, which was in some cases asymptomatic at first observation CR, CT (3/4) and MR (4/4) findings extra-axial localizations were similar to those in subacute-chronic forms.

[Static-dynamic computerized tomography in the diagnosis of traumatic lesions of alar ligaments. Preliminary results]. / La tomografia Computerizzata statico-dinamica nella diagnosi di lesione traumatica dei legamenti alari. Risultati preliminari.

The patients affected with cervical injuries often complain of cervical pain, headache and dizziness even when no bone fractures are detected. Such patients are likely to have a post-traumatic injury of the cervical ligaments. Twenty-five symptomatic patients (19 women and 6 men) were examined with upper spine CT and functional CT scans (right and left rotation) to detect ligament injuries and hypermotility of the craniocervical junction, both related to traumatic events. Eleven patients showed no alterations, while unilateral densitometric alterations of the alar ligaments were observed in 14 cases and thought to be related to trauma. On axial CT scans, the normal alar ligaments were identified as paramedian, quadrangular soft-tissue structures at the apex of the dens epistrophei and right above it. In 14 patients with alar ligament injuries, CT showed incomplete ligament interruption and thinning in 12 cases and its total absence on all images in 2 cases. The laterodental space in the affected side was hypodense due to fat tissue replacement. Of 14 patients with alar ligament injuries, only 14 patients with alar ligament injuries, only 4 exhibited rotatory hypermotility at C0-C1 and C1-C2. The low frequency of rotatory hypermotility is probably due to the high rate of incomplete alar ligament injuries as well as to cervical muscle stiffness, which is marked in some subjects. In conclusion, static and functional CT of the upper spine is not only useful to predict trauma outcome, but also allows the detection of the alar ligaments, of their morphodensitometric changes and of the segmental instability of the craniocervical junction.

Calcifying discopathy in infancy in the cervical spine: evaluation of vertebral alterations over a period of time.

Calcifying discopathy in infancy involving in the cervical spine has already been observed and described by many authors, as a well-defined clinico-radiological syndrome with a benign course. The clinical picture is composed of: pain and functional limitation, sometimes with a stiff neck, more rarely slight fever, increase of the erythrocyte sedimentation rate or leukocytosis. The radiographic picture consists of the association of morphological and structural alterations of vertebral bodies adjacent to one or more disc calcifications usually centrally sited, sometimes associated with anterior or posterior herniations. On the basis of the observation of 7 patients of up to 15 years of age, the authors propose to evaluate the changes of both the vertebral bodies and the discs involved in the disease over a period of time. The repetition of even modest alterations, that persist in time, testify to the involvement of the vertebral growth perhaps, more than the discal alterations connected with the calcification.