Medical expert of the article
New publications
MRI of the thoracic spine
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
Today it is difficult to imagine traumatology, vertebrology, surgery, neurology or oncology without such a hardware (instrumental) method of diagnosis as MRI of the thoracic spine.
From the standpoint of evidence-based medicine, the findings of this high-tech clinical study have one of the highest levels of reliability of results.
[Indications for conduction
First of all, the MRI of the thoracic spine, as well as the simultaneous MRI of the cervicothoracic spine - when patients complain of pain that occurs in the chest and the corresponding spinal column - is shown to determine their causes.
Among the most probable diagnoses established after this examination of the bone structures of the spinal column and adjacent soft tissues, there appear:
- impaired integrity or displacement of vertebrae in traumas of the thoracic (cervicothoracic) spine;
- protrusion, hernia or rupture of intervertebral discs;
- damage to the ligamentous apparatus (interstitial and neoplastic ligaments);
- scoliosis and congenital deformities of the spine (kyphosis, including juvenile, spondylolysis, etc.);
- degenerative-dystrophic pathologies (osteochondrosis);
- inflammations associated with osteomyelitis or spondylitis (including tuberculosis);
- radicular (or neurovascular) compression syndromes;
- intercostal nerve;
- cystic and tumor formations, cancer of the spinal cord.
What does MRI of the thoracic spine show?
Three-dimensional images (layered, in any planes) of all 12 vertebrae of this department (vertebrae thoracales T1-T12) - with intervertebral discs, facet joints, ligaments and syhozhiliyami, foraminal holes (with blood vessels and nerve roots that emerge from them) , as well as the vertebral (vertebral or spinal) canal - with its forming dyzhkov and cystic sprouts of the spines and the spine in it.
How long does the MRI of the thoracic spine last? The time required for this survey does not exceed 25-30 minutes.
What does the chest MRT show? Such examination visualizes all organs and anatomical structures of the thoracic cavity: trachea and esophagus; lungs, bronchi and pleural cavity; all departments of the mediastinum; heart (with its chambers, valves and vessels); Sternum, ribs and intercostal muscles; thyroid and thymus glands, as well as a network of blood vessels, lymphatic vessels and nodes.
Answers to all questions of interest to patients: what is the preparation for MRI of the thoracic spine, the technique for examining tomography scanners, the contraindications for the procedure, the possible consequences and complications after the procedure, and the care after the procedure are detailed in the publication - MRI resonance tomography)
And how to decipher the conclusion of the MRI of the thoracic spine (based on the received tomograms), you can find out in the material - MRI of the spine