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. 1988;10(4):291-5.
doi: 10.1007/BF02107901.

Variations in zygapophyseal joint orientation and level of transition at the thoracolumbar junction. Preliminary survey using computed tomography

K P Singer  1 , P D Breidahl, R E Day
Affiliations

Variations in zygapophyseal joint orientation and level of transition at the thoracolumbar junction. Preliminary survey using computed tomography

K P Singer et al. Surg Radiol Anat. 1988.

Abstract

Variation in zygapophyseal joint orientation at the thoracolumbar transitional junction was investigated using computed tomography (CT). The study population (N = 214) comprised 176 cases of abdominal scans, 9 thoracolumbar junction referrals and 29 cadaveric vertebral columns. Scans through the superior endplates of T11, T12, L1 and L2 were selected and joint angles calculated using a computer aided digitiser. Analysis revealed 29% of cases presented coronally oriented superior and sagittally orientated inferior joint processes at T12. This pattern occurred in 16% of cases at T11 and 0.5% at L1. A gradual transition occurred in 54% of cases and involved the adjacent inter-segmental joints of T11 and T12. Articular tropism (greater than 20 degrees) was most frequent at T11-12 (21%), followed by T12-L1 (9%).

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