Ct Examination of Patients with Osteofluorosis

This paper reports CT (Computerized Tomography) scan findings of the examination of the vertebral canals of 12 patients with severe osteofluorosis diagnosed by X-ray and with typical signs of spinal nerve damage. The examination showed various degrees of ossification of the rear longitudinal ligament (RLL) (aka posterior longitudinal ligament) in all 12 cases and of the yellow ligament (YL) (aka ligamentum flavum) in 3 cases. Stricture of the intervertebral foramen was found in one case. These results suggest that neurological findings indicative of spinal cord compression in patients with osteofluorosis are chiefly created by vertebral canal stricture caused by ossification of the RLL and YL rather than stricture of the canal by bone overgrowth. The CT scan clearly reveals the shape of the vertebral canal and the RLL and YL. Reconstruction of sagittal pictures may be used to localize the site of compression of the dural sac and nerve root, thereby obtaining results that can not be found by any other technique.