J Korean Orthop Assoc.  2011 Aug;46(4):282-287. 10.4055/jkoa.2011.46.4.282.

Comparison of Ultrasonography and MRI in Measuring of Cervical Soft Tissue Structure

• Shim DM
• Kim TK
• Lee SJ
• Song SY

• KMID: 2185425
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4055/jkoa.2011.46.4.282

Abstract

PURPOSE
We wanted to determine the usefullness of ultrasonography for exploring cervical anatomical structures and to compare its results with those of magnetic resonance imaging.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Between May, 2008 and January, 2009, 16 patient (8 male patients and 8 female patients, average age: 55.5 years old) with neck pain following in out patient clinic and who had cervical MRI performed were selected. By using ultrasonography, we measured the shortest distance of the internal carotid artery, internal jugular vein, sternocleidomastoid muscle and longus colli muscle based on the vertebral body of cricoid cartilage. We also measured the thickness of the longus colli muscle. We measured the average length of the shortest distance and thickness of C6 on MRI axial view.
RESULTS
The length using ultrasonography showed that the average length was 2.12 cm for the internal carotid artery, 3.04 cm for the internal jugular vein, 4.34 cm for the sternocleidomastoid muscle and 0.68 cm for the longus colli muscle. Cervical MRI was used to measure the same structures. Its results were 2.23 cm for the internal carotid artery, 3.14 cm for the internal jugular vein, 4.39 cm for the sternocleidomastoid muscle and 0.70 cm for the longus colli muscle. We also measured the thickness of the longus colli muscle with ultrasonography and cervical MRI, and the results were 0.77 cm and 0.76 cm, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between ultrasonography and MRI for the measurement of length, but there was a statistically significant difference for the measurement of thickness.
CONCLUSION
There was a significant difference for the measurement of cervical anatomical stuctures using ultrasonography, and especially the longus coli thickness, as compared with that of MRI. Therefore, we suggest that ultrasonography can give more useful information for the diagnosis and treatment of problems in the cervical spinal field.

Keyword

cervical spine; ultrasonography; MRI

MeSH Terms

Carotid Artery, Internal
Cricoid Cartilage
Female
Humans
Jugular Veins
Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
Male
Muscles
Neck Pain

Figure

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  Figure 1 MRI measurements of cervical soft tissue structure at C6 level.

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  Figure 2 Ultrasonographic measurements of cervical soft tissue structure. (A) Distance between the center of trachea and internal carotid artery. (B) Distance between the center of trachea and internal jugular vein. (C) Distance between the center of trachea and longus colli. (D) Distance between the center of trachea and SCM. (E) Thickness of longus colli. SCM, sternocleidomastoid muscle.

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