%0 Journal Article
%T Cervical spine taper ratios: Normal tolerance limits
%A Adrienne Thompson
%A Ryan Zea
%A Victor Haughton
%J The Neuroradiology Journal
%@ 2385-1996
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/1971400918772136
%X Spinal canal tapering, which can be measured as taper ratios, affects cerebrospinal fluid flow dynamics. We calculated the tolerance interval for normal cervical spine taper ratios to facilitate the detection of abnormal taper ratios. We collected a series of patients who had cervical spine magnetic resonance studies reported as normal. We measured anteroposterior diameters of the cervical spine and calculated C1每C4, C4每C7, and C1每C7 taper by standard methodology. We calculated the normal tolerance limits for taper ratios and compared results of this study with data in previous reports on taper ratios. We enrolled 78 patients aged 2每55 years. The 99% tolerance limits for the taper ratios for C1每C4, C4每C7, and C1每C7 were ˋ0.31 to +0.09, ˋ0.11 to +0.14, and ˋ0.13 to +0.05ˋcm/level, respectively. Age and sex were not significant variables for taper ratios. Taper ratios in this study agreed with those reported for controls in previous studies. Patients with syringomyelia in previous reports tended to have taper ratios outside the normal tolerance limits. Normal limits of the cervical taper ratios are reported
%K Cervical spine
%K anatomy
%K magnetic resonance
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1971400918772136