Prevalencia de hallazgos imagenológicos en radiografía anteroposterior y lateral de columna cervical en pacientes de 20 a 85 años. Hospital Monte Sinaí – Cuenca enero 2022 – marzo 2024

Abstract

Background: The World Health Organization has confirmed that 222 million have neck pain, which is mostly related to pathologies of the cervical spine. The most frequent imaging findings are: cervical lordosis, which is the loss or decrease in the physiological curvature of the spine. Osteophytes are bony projections that occur on the edges of the vertebrae due to a degenerative process; degenerative disc disease is the progressive wear of intervertebral discs; the decrease in bone density causes the bone to become more fragile and spongier, making it more prone to fractures. (1-5) Objective: To determine the prevalence of imaging findings in anteroposterior and lateral radiographs of the cervical spine in patients aged 20 to 85 years at Monte Sinai Hospital, in Cuenca, from January 2022 to March 2024. Methodology: This is a retrospective, cross-sectional, descriptive study. Results: Out of 666 AP and lateral radiographic studies of the cervical spine, 655 patients reported imaging findings (98.3%), the pathologies were more common in females (65.5%), in the age range of 40 to 49 years (20.4%). The recurrent imaging finding is loss of cervical lordosis (36.3%); these findings affect more than one vertebral space, and the most frequent is C3-C7. Conclusions: Imaging findings are a lot more common in females in the age group of 40 to 49 years. The cervical region, specifically between C3 and C7 vertebrae, is the most affected, and the most common finding is that of loss of cervical lordosis.