Several factors could predispose patients older than 60 years to have further injury found on MRI but missed on CT scans after cervical spine fractures, according to a report in The Spine Journal.
Researchers reviewed 830 patients with cervical spinal injuries with the average age of 54 years old. According to the report, two spine surgeons determined whether the MRI study would change the patient's management based on the SLIC classification system.
The researchers found that around 81 percent of the management changes were related to spinal cord depression depicted on the MRI while 19 percent of the changes were related to occult instability on the MRI. Factors that predisposed further injury found on MRI included:
• Obtunded or temporary non-assessable status
• Cervical spondylosis
• Polytrauma
• Neurologic deficit
The researchers concluded that it would be reasonable for on-call spine surgeons to order MRI for patients in this demographic reporting with cervical spine fractures.
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