Introduction: The goal is to assess the usefulness of diagnostic imaging in diagnosing perinatal preganglionic injuries of the brachial plexus.
Material and methods: The clinical material included 40 children of both genders, aged 2 to 35 months. The authors analysed the results of diagnostic imaging examinations (myelography in 20 cases and magnetic resonance [MR] myelography in 20 cases), intraoperative view and clinical course.
Results: In 13 out of 40 (32.5%) examined children, no evidence of avulsion of the roots of the spinal nerves was found either by diagnostic imaging or during the surgery. In 3 cases (7.5%) with avulsed roots of the spinal nerves, the diagnostic imaging and intraoperative appearance were in agreement. Total agreement of the diagnostic imaging and intraoperative view was found in 40% of cases. In 9 patients (22.5%) suspected avulsion of roots of the spinal nerves was not confirmed during the surgery. However, the further clinical course of the disease in these cases indicated high probability of avulsion of roots without their pull-out from the intervertebral foramens. In the remaining cases, the findings were as follows: false positive results – 7 (17.5%), false negative results – 1 (2.5%), results underestimating injury – 3 (7.5%), results overestimating injury – 2 (5%).
Conclusions: It was determined that the usefulness of pre-operative diagnostic imaging is limited. Due to the risk of occurrence of false positive and false negative results, final decisions concerning selection of the surgical technique must be based on the analysis of the intraoperative view and preoperative clinical symptoms.