Postnatal maturation and radiology of the growing spine.

Postnatal maturation of the spine is marked by the ossification process and by changes in the shape of the vertebrae, spinal curvature, spinal canal, discs, and bone marrow. Different aspects of the spine's maturation process are demonstrated on the three most common radiologic modalities used to evaluate the spine. Conventional plain spine imaging (plain spine radiography) provides a good initial evaluation of the bony spine. CT provides better bone detail and allows finer evaluation of subtle structures, the soft tissues of the spine (discs, ligaments), and the spinal cord. MRI provides excellent resolution of the bone marrow, ligaments, and discs of the spine, and can be used as an adjunct for evaluating the soft tissue of the spine and intraspinal contents.