CT Analysis of Neck Muscles before and after Surgery in Patient with Cervical Disorder

Abstract

Twenty-one cases of cervical disorders (CSM, 9 cases; CSR, 3 Cases; OPLL, 9 cases) were analysed for their neck muscles on CT. The neck muscles were devided into three groups at C5 level; sternocleidomastoideus (Scm), superficial dorsal group (SDG) and deep dorsal group (DDG). Cross-sectional area and mean CT value of each muscle group were measured.
The results obtained were as follows;
1) Male patients have larger size of the neck and higher ratio of muscle transectional area to whole area than female patients.
2) CT view at an average of 8 weeks postoperatively showed enlarged intermuscular low density areas of superficial dorsal muscles and decreased mean density of deep dorsal muscles in the group of posterior approach, which suggested the state of edema in the former and the degenerative changes in the latter.