Spinal Schmorl's nodes: sagittal sectional imaging and pathological examination.

The presence, location and number of Schmorl's nodes was determined in the thoracolumbar spines of 70 motor vehicle accident victims using radiographic examination of a midline sagittal section and subsequent pathological examinations, including histology. In 28% of spines, a greater number of Schmorl's nodes were identified with radiography, while in 44%, pathological examination revealed a greater number of nodes. The visibility of Schmorl's nodes was enhanced by using a sagittal radiographic approach, and, in contrast to previous work, nodes below 0.5 cm2 were readily detected. The results of the present study offer an additional imaging technique for postmortem analysis of the spine, and support the use of sagittal MR imaging for the evaluation of this condition.