Initial experience of percutaneous vertebroplasty using single-plane C-arm fluoroscopy for guidance.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and safety of percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) using single-plane C-arm fluoroscopy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Lesions in the present study all comprised compression fractures with intact pedicles. A polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) mixture was injected by the transpedicular approach under C-arm fluoroscopy using a lateral projection. Before and after PVP, the pain score was determined using visual analog scale methods. RESULTS: Between June 2002 and May 2004, we performed 31 PVPs in 17 patients during 22 treatment sessions. Underlying pathology comprised neoplasm-related compression fracture (n=9) and fractures attributed to osteoporosis (n=8). Mean pain score was 8.0 (range, 4.5-10) immediately before PVP, and 1.9 (range, 0-7) at 24 h after PVP. Mean time needed to perform PVP was 59 min. Mean time to approach a pedicle was 36 min (range, 20 min for 1 pedicle to 110 min for 3 pedicles). No complications requiring surgical intervention or exacerbating conditions beyond pre-treatment levels were noted. CONCLUSION: PVP using single-plane C-arm fluoroscopy for guidance is feasible, safe, and quick.

Radiation-induced temporary hair loss as a radiation damage only occurring in patients who had the combination of MDCT and DSA.

As imaging technologies become increasingly advanced, it is possible to obtain detailed morphological information as well as functional imaging data. In some imaging technologies, the radiation dose increases with the ability to obtain better images or more detailed information. We encountered three cases of temporary bandage-shaped hair loss, which was caused by perfusion studies of the head by multi-detector row computed tomography (MDCT) for evaluation of cerebral blood flow in patients with vascular disorders. In all three patients with temporary hair loss, two angiographies of the head had been performed in the period of serial CT examinations. This suggested the possibility that radiation exposure from angiography performed in serial examinations, combined with the perfusion studies of the head with MDCT, played an important role in this temporary, bandage-shaped hair loss. Radiologists should be aware that a cumulative or multiplier effect of radiation exposure from multiple diagnostic techniques may result in hair loss and other types of radiation complications.