Computed tomographic morphometry of thoracic pedicles: safety pedicle parameter measurement of the Chinese immature thoracic spine.

Our objective was to quantify the morphometric characteristics of the pedicles of the Chinese immature thoracic spine. A total of 120 patients aged 5-14 years underwent standard thoracic computed tomography (CT). The patients were grouped according to age: group 1 (5-8 years of age), group 2 (9-11 years of age) and group 3 (12-14 years of age). Images were reformatted, and multiplanar reconstructions were used to attain images of thoracic pedicles on sagittal, coronal and transverse planes. The measurements included the inner and outer pedicle diameters on the transverse plane, pedicle sagittal diameter, pedicle length and the pedicle angle on the transverse. (1) Pedicle diameters on the transverse plane decreased gradually from T1 to T4 and increased gradually from T5 to T12. The shortest transverse diameter of the thoracic pedicle was T4 or T5. (2) The sagittal diameter was significantly larger than the transverse diameter except at T1. (3) The length of the pedicle from the posterior cortex to the anterior cortex of the vertebra increased from T1 to T12. (4) The pedicle angle decreased gradually from T1 to T8 and became negative below the level of T10. The length of the pedicle changed with age significantly, but the pedicle angle changed with age insignificantly. The success of transpedicular fixation requires a better understanding of morphological features at different ages and reasonable selection of the diameter, length and direction of the pedicle screws based on X-ray and CT films.