← Diagnostic Imaging class notes
FROM MY PT SCHOOL NOTES · DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING · UNIT 2 · CHAPTER 06
Thoracic and lumbar spine
Review the relevant anatomy and imaging question before deciding what the finding may mean for rehabilitation.
Key imaging concepts
- Review vertebral height, alignment, endplates, disc spaces, posterior elements and curvature. Degenerative findings often require cautious interpretation alongside symptoms.
- Compression deformity, trauma, osteoporotic risk and malignancy history affect imaging choice. MRI may be used when neural, marrow, infection or cancer questions are clinically significant.
- Mechanical back pain without red flags is not, by itself, an indication for routine imaging.
PT clinical connection
A 2019 lecture image must not be treated as a diagnosis in isolation; consider whether new deficits or systemic findings require referral.
High-yield distinction
Symptoms do not map 1:1 onto degeneration: Age-related findings are common. Test the clinical fit before labeling a structural image as the pain generator.
Course source: 1 Thoracic Spine.pdf; 3 Lumbar Spine.pdf; 3 Lumbar Spine Cases.pdf. These are educational notes, not image reading certification or a substitute for an official report. Imaging orders and interpretation rights vary with professional scope and state law; image examples must be clinically verified and properly licensed.
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