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How To Determine The Age Of A Cervical Fracture?
Question: hi, my husband had a fall where he hit the sand face first and his head was thrust backwards, x=rays indicate no fracture, 2 months later same result. he was admitted to hospital after a seizure and found several absesses in his brain, surgery was performed and knowing that he had a neck injury they treated him for 3 weeks in icu; without any scans of his neck, when they found he had a cervical fracture between the c1 and c2. is there any way to know how old the fracture is?
Brief Answer:
Read below.
Detailed Answer:
I read your question carefully and I am sorry about the problems your husband is having.
It would have been useful if you have given some more dates so that I could figure out how much time passed between events. You mention a second xray was taken two months after the fall, but then no further details on when the fall was, when did the seizures and the ICU treatment take place.
Anyway regarding the age of the fracture, after the first few weeks it can be difficult to determine by xray or CT, especially in that particular level. The exams which can yield more information on the fracture age are MRI or bone scan. However that depends on the type of accuracy you are looking for. They can not specify dates or exact number of weeks, but according to signal changes they can indicate whether a fracture is acute or chronic, usually under 2 months or older. If you are looking for a more precise point in time I am afraid that is not possible.
I remain at your disposal for other questions.
Read below.
Detailed Answer:
I read your question carefully and I am sorry about the problems your husband is having.
It would have been useful if you have given some more dates so that I could figure out how much time passed between events. You mention a second xray was taken two months after the fall, but then no further details on when the fall was, when did the seizures and the ICU treatment take place.
Anyway regarding the age of the fracture, after the first few weeks it can be difficult to determine by xray or CT, especially in that particular level. The exams which can yield more information on the fracture age are MRI or bone scan. However that depends on the type of accuracy you are looking for. They can not specify dates or exact number of weeks, but according to signal changes they can indicate whether a fracture is acute or chronic, usually under 2 months or older. If you are looking for a more precise point in time I am afraid that is not possible.
I remain at your disposal for other questions.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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