Spine

There will be ten questions on imaging procedures for the spine in the advanced-level examination for MRI. These will relate to the following areas

Cervical
Thoracic
Lumbo-sacral

Q41 Most spine imaging is performed with the use of:

(a)	A surface/local coil
(b)	ECG gating
(c)	Respiratory compensation
(d)	Peripheral gating

Q42 In patients that have undergone surgery for a herniated disk in the lumbar spine, contrast enhancement can be used to distinguish recurrent disk from post-operative scar because:

(a)	Post-operative scar never enhances and recurrent disk does enhance
(b)	Post-operative scar enhances and recurrent disk does not
(c)	Disk enhances more slowly than post-operative scar
(d)	Neither scar nor disk enhance

Q43 For optimal imaging of the cervical spine, patient positioning and local coil placement are:

(a)	Supine/under the neck to include from C1 to C7
(b)	Supine/on top of the neck to include from C1 to C7
(c)	Supine/beside the neck to include from C1 to C7
(d)	Prone/on top of the neck to include from C1 to C7

Q44 On a 24 cm FOV, sagittal T-spine image that demonstrates a cord compression, the vertebral level can be determined by:

(a)	Using the xyphoid as a landmark and counting up from T12
(b)	Using the sternal notch as a landmark and counting down from T1
(c)	Using a large FOV localizer and counting down from C2
(d)	Using lead markers to mark T12 and T1 on large FOV images

Q45 In lumber spine imaging, images acquired directly through intervertebral disk spaces can be acquired in the:

(a)	Axial plane
(b)	Sagittal plane
(c)	Coronal plane
(d)	Oblique plane

Q46 On T1 weighted images of the spine, the CSF appears:

(a)	Hyperintense to the spinal cord
(b)	Hypointense to the spinal cord
(c)	Isointense to the spinal cord
(d)	a and c

Q47 The conus and the cauda equina in adult patients are best demonstrated by a:

(a)	Sagittal image of the cervical spine
(b)	Sagittal image of the thoracic spine
(c)	Sagittal image of the lumbar spine
(d)	Coronal image of the thoracic spine