Lea Alhilali, MD Profile picture
Jun 1, 2023 9 tweets 6 min read Read on X
1/Understanding cervical radiculopathy is a pain in the neck! But knowing the distributions can help your search
A #tweetorial to help you remember cervical radicular pain distributions

#medtwitter #radres #FOAMed #FOAMrad #neurorad #Meded #meded #spine #Neurosurgery Image
2/First, a rule of thumb—or rather a rule of elbow! You have 10 fingers. If you divide that in half, you get 5.

If you divide your arm in half, that's at the elbow, you'll also get 5--C5 that is! C5 radiates to the elbow. So if it radiates below this, it's > C5 & above is < C5 Image
3/So let’s start with C2. C2 predominantly radiates along the dorsal aspect of the scalp, as it supplies the greater occipital nerve. I remember this bc the number 2 has a swan like neck that mimics the contour of the back of the head and its distribution Image
4/Next is C3. C3 starts radiating right around the ear and circles around to the front of the neck, as it is a contributor to the great auricular nerve and anterior cutaneous nerve of the neck. I remember how it starts bc the number 3 looks like those big grandpa ears. Image
5/C4 radiates along the suprclavicular fossa, as it helps innervate the supraclavicular nerve, and goes towards the deltoid. I remember this because the triangular part of the number 4 looks the bulging deltoids that you always see on TV, but never in real life Image
6/I remember C5 using that general rule that half of the number of fingers (5) equals halfway down the arm (elbow). C5 radiates towards the elbow. Image
7/C6 radiates to the thumb. I remember this because when you count to 6, you use up all the fingers on one hand and then end on the thumb of the next hand. So you end on a thumb when you count to 6 and C6 radiates to the thumb Image
8/We only have two cervical nerves left (C7, C8) for the 4 fingers left. So we will just use every other finger. So starting with C6 at the thumb—skip a finger gets you to the middle finger, that’s C7, skip the next finger gets you to the pinky, and that’s C8! Image
9/Now you know where in the c-spine to look when a patient has pain radiating from the neck—but remember there are subtleties to this & these are general guidelines to help you.

Hopefully, remembering cervical radicular pain distributions will no longer be a pain in the neck! Image

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More from @teachplaygrub

Feb 14
1/”I LOVE spinal cord syndromes!” is a phrase that has NEVER, EVER been said by anyone.

Do you become paralyzed when you see cord signal abnormality?

Never fear—here is a thread on all the incomplete spinal cord syndromes to get you moving again! Image
2/Spinal cord anatomy can be complex.

On imaging, we can see the ant & post nerve roots. We can also see the gray & white matter

Hidden w/in the white matter, however, are numerous efferent & afferent tracts—enough to make your head spin. Image
3/Lucky for you, for the incomplete cord syndromes, all you need to know is gray matter & 3 main tracts

Anterolaterally, spinothalamic tract (pain & temp)

Posteriorly, dorsal columns (vibration, proprioception, & light touch), & next to it, corticospinal tracts—providing motor Image
Read 20 tweets
Feb 9
1/To be or not 2b?? That is the question!

Do you have questions about how to remember cervical lymph node anatomy & levels?

Here’s a SUPERBOWL thread to show you how! Image
2/Google cervical lymph node anatomy & you always get this anatomic picture w/the head flung back like a model posing.

But unless you live in LA, your patients don’t look like this & understanding anatomy from this image is difficult Image
3/First, you need to know how lymph node drainage works in the neck

Nodes drain like rivers—smaller streams drain into larger rivers

In the neck, there are outer circle nodes (peripheral) & inner circle nodes—both drain into the large river of the deep cervical nodes Image
Read 17 tweets
Jan 31
1/Can’t remember what to look for on scans for memory loss?

New Alzheimer’s treatments are changing these scans!

Read on for the latest @theAJNR SCANtastic on imaging in AD:

ajnr.org/content/early/Image
2/Current hypothesis in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is that accumulation of amyloid beta (AB) protein result sin inflammation & neuronal death

Thus, new treatments in AD are focused on anti-AB antibodies that remove this protein in AD patients. Image
3/However, AB protein is also deposited in vessel walls in AD pts—just like in cerebral amyloid
angiopathy

So removing it from vessel walls increases vascular permeability, leading to edema & hemorrhage

Think of it like how a baby gets mad when you take its candy away! Image
Read 15 tweets
Jan 31
1/Can’t remember what to look for on scans for memory loss?

New Alzheimer’s treatments are changing the way we look at these scans!

Read on to get up to date w/the latest @theAJNR SCANtastic on imaging for Alzheimer’s Disease:

ajnr.org/content/early/…Image
@TheAJNR 2/Current hypothesis in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is that accumulation of amyloid beta (AB) protein result sin inflammation & neuronal death

Thus, new treatments in AD are focused on anti-AB antibodies that remove this protein in AD patients. Image
@TheAJNR 3/However, AB protein is also deposited in vessel walls in AD pts—just like in cerebral amyloid angiopathy

So removing it from vessel walls increases vascular permeability, leading to edema & hemorrhage

Think of it like how a baby gets mad when you take its candy away! Image
Read 15 tweets
Dec 23, 2024
1/Does trying to figure out cochlear anatomy cause your head to spiral?

Hungry for some help?

Here’s a thread to help you untwist cochlear CT anatomy w/food analogies! Image
2/On axial temporal bone CT, you cannot see the whole cochlea at once. So let’s start at the bottom.

The first thing you come to is the basal turn of the cochlea (makes sense, basal=bottom). On axial images, it looks like a banana. I remember both Basal and Banana start w/B. Image
3/As you move up to the next slice, you start to see the upper turns of the cochlea coming in above the basal turn. They look like a stack of pancakes.

Pancakes are the heart of any breakfast, so they are at the heart or middle of the cochlea on imaging. Image
Read 9 tweets
Dec 19, 2024
1/Talk about dangerous liaisons!

Abnormal brain vascular connections like a dural arteriovenous fistula (dural AVF) can be dangerous!

This month’s @theAJNR SCANtastic thread is here to you some durable knowledge about dural AVFs!

ajnr.org/content/45/12/…Image
2/Dural sinuses sit inside dural leaflets.

Arteries that feed the dura also feed the walls of sinuses, like vasa vasorum.

Arteries in the walls of veins are a natural connection between the veins and arteries—but these connections are usually closed in normal pts. Image
3/Whether these connections are open depends on pressure.

Like a hose w/a hole in it, at normal pressures, abnormal connections are not open.

But if pressure is increased w/thrombosis or stenosis, the connections open, like high pressure water squirting out through a hole. Image
Read 18 tweets

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