Abstract
The wrist and hand attracted radiological attention ever since the discovery of X-rays. Radiographic measurements have evolved in the assessment of chronic systemic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, metabolic bone disease as well as congenital and developmental disorders. Imaging also plays a very important role in traumatic and post-traumatic assessment and this in part relies on measurement assessment. Carpal instability from ligament insufficiency is complex and can arise from traumatic and non-traumatic causes such as rheumatoid disease. To a large extent radiographs are still the most common imaging modality from which measurements are made. They are reliable and with care easily reproduced, minimising the risk of measurement errors on follow-up assessment. The adoption of standard radiographic methods however is crucial as shown by Schuind et al. (1992) and Larsen et al. (1991a, b), and this aspect will be expanded upon in detail in this introduction.
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Drapé, JL., Theumann, N. (2020). Wrist/Hand. In: Cassar-Pullicino, V., Davies, A. (eds) Measurements in Musculoskeletal Radiology. Medical Radiology(). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-68897-6_10
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