Tsz Kwun Law1, Dino
Samartzis2, Mina Kim1, Queenie Chan3,
Pek-Lan Khong1, M C Kenneth Cheung2, Marina-Portia
Anthony1
1Diagnostic
Radiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, People's Republic
of; 2Orthopaedics & Traumatology, The University of Hong Kong,
Hong Kong, China, People's Republic of; 3Philips Healthcare, Hong
Kong, China, People's Republic of
Early diagnosis of CEP defects by UTE technique may provide useful information for understanding the pathogenesis of each of DDD and Schmorls nodes (SN). The objective of this study was to assess CEP integrity in normal IVD levels, levels with degenerated IVDs and levels with SNs. Based on the UTE images, CEP defects were defined as discontinuity of high signal over 4 consecutive slices. Results showed that CEP defects were found to have a 4.5 fold increased likelihood of having DDD. No association between CEP defects and SNs was established. The effects of age and CEP defects were found to be level dependent.
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