MRI Study of Level of Termination of Spinal Cord (Conus Medullaris)

. The spinal cord is a vital organ of the body. The level of termination of spinal cord (conus medullaris) has been always remained as an area of interest. It is necessary to know the level of termination of spinal cord in order to diagnose a low lying tethered cord in children and important in procedure like spinal anesthesia. In present study MRI of whole spine of 71 adult individuals with age group of 18 years to 65 years of either sex with normal mri finding were analyzed. In this study we used T1 & T2 weighted sagittal spin echo and SS Myelo MRI sequences of whole spine. Each vertebra was divided into 3 equal portion and the intervertebral disc was defined as a separate region. The position of the conus medullaris were defined as the vertebral segment or interveteral disc space that will be determine by the line. max no of spinal cord termination observed around L1 & L2. The present study is an attempt to provide data base for a range of termination of spinal cord. Which is helpful in clinical procedures like lumbar puncture and accurate localization in cranial spinal irradiation & anaesthesiologist practicing regional anaesthesia.