The push-up view: a superior cross-table lateral projection for cervical myelography.

The two most commonly used methods for obtaining crosstable lateral radiographs of the cervical spine are the conventional cross-table view (CCV) and the swimmer's view (SV). Shapiro [1) reported that another prone cross-table view, obtained with the shoulders elevated from the table, may facilitate visualization of the lower cervical spine. To our knowledge, this latter technique, which we call the push-up view (PUV), has not been evaluated critically and is not generally used by most radiologists. The PUV is obtained by asking patients to place their palms down underneath the ipsilateral shoulder, push up, and simultaneously elevate both shoulders from the table without elevating the trunk (Fig. 1). In contrast, the CCV is performed by asking patients to place their arms at their sides and move the shoulders in a caudal direction. The radiographic technique and centering are otherwise the same. The PUV, CCV, and SV were performed in 20 consecutive patients undergoing cervical myelography in order to evaluate the efficacy of the former technique. Patients ranged in age from 18-74 (mean age, 48.5 years) and 16 of 20 were males. Using the CCV, the C6-C7 interspace was visible in only six of 20 cases. The mean inferior level of the cervical spine