Magnetic resonance imaging of the lumbar spine after epidural and nerve root injection therapy: evaluation of soft tissue changes

2006 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 331-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas von Rothenburg ◽  
Robert Drescher ◽  
Odo Koester ◽  
Gebhard Schmid
Author(s):  
Mikkel Østergaard ◽  
Philip G. Conaghan ◽  
Charles Peterfy

In rheumatoid arthritis (RA), early diagnosis combined with early initiation of appropriate therapy and tight control of inflammation have been recognized as essential for optimal clinical outcomes. Conventional radiography, though able to detect structural joint damage in patients with established disease, is not sensitive in detecting early disease manifestations such as soft tissue changes and bone damage at its earliest stages. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) allows multiplanar tomographic imaging of the body in any plane without geometric distortions associated with projectional techniques, such as radiography, and no ionizing radiation is used. Early bone involvement and inflammatory soft tissue changes of synovitis and tenosynovitis, which are not detectable by conventional clinical, biochemical, and radiographic methods, can be directly visualized and evaluated in detail by MRI. MRI is an increasingly available sensitive technique which has documented utility in the diagnosis, monitoring, and prognostication of patients with RA, and important new knowledge and technical improvements are continuously being acquired.


2004 ◽  
Vol 100 (5) ◽  
pp. 532-536 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feyza Karagöz Güzey ◽  
M. Hakan Seyithanoglu ◽  
Altay Sencer ◽  
Erhan Emel ◽  
Ibrahim Alatas ◽  
...  

Spine ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 23 (15) ◽  
pp. 1668-1676 ◽  
Author(s):  
James J. Rankine ◽  
Donal G. Fortune ◽  
Charles E. Hutchinson ◽  
David G. Hughes ◽  
Chris J. Main

2021 ◽  
pp. 197140092199897
Author(s):  
Satoshi Matsushima ◽  
Tetsuya Shimizu ◽  
Akira Baba ◽  
Hiroya Ojiri

Objectives In daily clinical practice, the assessment of the thickness of the cauda equina on lumbar spine magnetic resonance imaging is an important parameter. However, its relevance to the size of the dural sac in non-pathological conditions is unknown. To examine the relationship between the size of the dural sac and the apparent thickness of the cauda equina nerve root using lumbar spine magnetic resonance imaging in non-pathological conditions. Methods We retrospectively measured the dural sac diameter and vertebral body diameter, counted the apparent number, and calculated total cross-sectional area of the cauda equina, dural sac ratio and the area of one apparent nerve root of cauda equina in 100 cases. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient ( ρ) was used. Results Dural sac ratio and diameter were positively correlated with the area of one apparent nerve root ( ρ=0.77, P<0.001; ρ=0.74, P<0.001; respectively) and negatively correlated with the apparent number of cauda equina in a single cross-section ( ρ=–0.63, P<0.001; ρ=–0.52, P<0.001; respectively). Conclusions A larger dural sac ratio and diameter was associated with an apparently thicker cauda equina and lower visible number. In a larger dural sac, the physiologically clumped and apparently thicker cauda equina should not be misdiagnosed as pathological.


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