Lam S L, Cheong W Y, Tan K P
Department of Radiology, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.
Singapore Med J. 1991 Aug;32(4):255-7.
The lucent cleft sign is a sign of soft tissue injury. It was first described as a sign of acute cervical injury but it is neither confined to cases of trauma nor the cervical region. The sign is also seen in degenerative disease and in the lumbar spine. The lucent cleft sign is seen anteriorly, as an area of hyperlucency above the superior end plate of the vertebra. It is the result of a partial tear of the annulus. In complete avulsion, the sign may be absent and the radiograph, completely normal. We report our experience of 15 patients with the lucent cleft sign. Our patients are relatively young (commonest age group 30-35 years) and the majority (10 patients) had a history of acute trauma. Four patients had non-specific (3 cervical and one lumbar) aches while in the last patient, the lucent cleft was an incidental finding. Although we only documented the disappearance of the sign in 4 patients, we believe that with healing, the sign will eventually disappear. Although the sign is transient, it is useful as it may be the only sign present in cases of trauma.
透亮裂隙征是软组织损伤的一种征象。它最初被描述为急性颈椎损伤的征象，但它既不限于创伤病例，也不限于颈椎区域。该征象也可见于退行性疾病和腰椎。透亮裂隙征见于椎体上终板上方的前部，表现为一个透亮区。它是椎间盘环部分撕裂的结果。在完全撕脱时，该征象可能不存在，X线片完全正常。我们报告了15例有透亮裂隙征患者的经验。我们的患者相对年轻（最常见年龄组为30 - 35岁），大多数（10例）有急性创伤史。4例有非特异性（3例颈椎和1例腰椎）疼痛，最后1例患者的透亮裂隙是偶然发现。尽管我们仅记录了4例患者该征象的消失情况，但我们认为随着愈合，该征象最终会消失。尽管该征象是短暂的，但它很有用，因为它可能是创伤病例中唯一存在的征象。
