Study design: Original study.
Objective: To compare the accuracy of radiograph (XR) estimates of lumbar total disc arthroplasty placement with high-resolution computed tomography (CT).
Summary of background data: Most lumbar disc arthroplasties are inserted and subsequently analyzed using anteroposterior and lateral XR: XR estimates are often correlated with clinical outcomes. No study has hitherto assessed the relative accuracy of XR estimates with CT.
Methods: Patients (N = 36) had recently undergone uncomplicated lumbar total disc arthroplasty for unresponsive discogenic back pain. Interpedicular midline malplacement and vertebral body penetration (VBP) were estimated after surgery, by "blinded" independent review, using computer software on both nonrotated XR and high-resolution CT at the same clinic attendance.
Results: Results were obtained in N = 36 patients. No significant differences were found between XR and CT in the mean +/- standard error estimation of either midline malplacement (1.7 +/- 0.2 mm vs. 1.8 +/- 0.2 mm, P = 0.86) or VBP (1.5 +/- 0.3 mm vs. 1.6 +/- 0.3 mm, P = 0.79). However, the correlation between XR and CT for midline malplacement appeared strong (r = 0.72, P < 0.001), whereas the correlation between XR and CT for VBP was poor (r = 0.23 P > 0.10). The standard deviation of XR-CT differences for VBP (2.2 mm) was almost twice that for midline malplacement (1.2 mm). XR-CT differences exceeded the 95% limit of agreement in 6% of midline placement estimates, and in 8% for VBP.
Conclusion: Nonrotated XR permitted an accurate and valid estimate of midline malplacement relative to CT in most cases. However, the correlation was biased toward XR underestimation of CT-derived malplacement, and highly significant XR-CT differences occurred in 6% of estimates: early postoperative CT is therefore recommended to enhance the estimation of midline placement. XR-CT agreement for VBP was poor: CT is therefore indicated in all cases for this parameter. This is the first study to compare the accuracy of XR in estimating lumbar total disc arthroplasty placement with CT.