Thoracic spine CT and MRI of a 30-year-old man who was a restrained passenger in a high-speed, head-on motor vehicle collision. The patient was neurologically intact.
(A) A sagittal reconstruction CT image shows burst fractures of T5 and T6 (arrows).
(B) The axial CT image of T6 shows fractures of the vertebral body (arrow) and lamina (arrowhead) but no evidence of bone retropulsion into the spinal canal.
(C) A sagittal T2-weighted MRI demonstrates fractures of the T5 and T6 vertebral bodies (asterisks), as well as disruption of the posterior ligamentous complex (arrow) at this level.
Reproduced with permission from: Kim DH, Rihn JA, Albert TJ. Anterior and posterior instrumentation techniques used in the thoracic spine for treatment of fractures. In: The Textbook of Spinal Surgery, 3rd Ed, Bridwell KH, DeWald RL, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia 2011. Copyright © 2011 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
www.lww.com.
