MR imaging of lumbar arachnoiditis

Department of Radiology, University Hospitals of Cleveland, Case Western Reserve University, OH 44106.

To assess the usefulness of MR in defining the changes of lumbar arachnoiditis, we reviewed retrospectively the MR, plain-film myelographic, and CT myelographic findings in 100 patients referred for evaluation of failed-back-surgery syndrome. In 11 of 12 cases of arachnoiditis demonstrated by plain-film and CT myelography, an abnormal configuration of nerve roots was seen by MR. The correlated MR and CT and plain-film myelographic changes were divided into three anatomic groups: group 1 showed conglomerations of adherent roots residing centrally within the thecal sac, group 2 demonstrated roots adherent peripherally to the meninges giving rise to an "empty-sac" appearance, and group 3 demonstrated a soft-tissue mass replacing the subarachnoid space. There was one false-negative MR study. For the diagnosis of moderate to severe arachnoiditis, we found MR to correlate excellently with CT myelographic and plain-film myelographic findings.
CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. Talbot, C. Lewis, C. D. D. Hutter, I. Rice, and M. Y. K. Wee Obstetric epidurals and chronic adhesive arachnoiditis Br. J. Anaesth., June 1, 2004; 92(6): 902 - 903. [Full Text] [PDF]

				I. Rice, M. Y. K. Wee, and K. Thomson Obstetric epidurals and chronic adhesive arachnoiditis Br. J. Anaesth., January 1, 2004; 92(1): 109 - 120. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Nagayama, Y. Watanabe, A. Okumura, Y. Amoh, S. Nakashita, and Y. Dodo High-Resolution Single-Slice MR Myelography Am. J. Roentgenol., August 1, 2002; 179(2): 515 - 521. [Full Text] [PDF]