Radiology
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Nowicki, B. H.
Right arrow Articles by Haughton, V. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Nowicki, B. H.
Right arrow Articles by Haughton, V. M.

Radiology, Vol 176, 433-437, Copyright © 1990 by Radiological Society of North America

ARTICLES

Effect of axial loading on neural foramina and nerve roots in the lumbar spine

BH Nowicki, S Yu, J Reinartz, F Pintar, N Yoganandan and VM Haughton
Department of Radiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital, Milwaukee 53226.

The hypothesis that the neural foramina in some patients are critically narrowed by axial compression of the spine has not been studied with direct imaging techniques. Frozen cadaveric motion segments of the lumbar spine (intervertebral disk and contiguous vertebrae) were imaged with computed tomography (CT). The segments were thawed and compressed in a hydrostatic press to simulate axial loading, and then the segments were frozen and imaged again. The motion segments were subsequently sectioned with a cryomicrotome, and the chronic degenerative changes present in the disks were classified. Pre- and post-compression CT images were compared, and anatomic relationships were studied. In 41 randomly selected segments (some with preexisting radial, transverse, and concentric annular tears), compression diminished the diameters and cross-sectional areas of the spinal canal and neural foramina. In no cases were nerve roots displaced, distorted, or compressed by axial loading. This study suggests that axial loading, such as that produced by ordinary weight bearing, does not critically compromise the neural foramina even in the presence of chronic degenerative disk changes.


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Am. J. Neuroradiol.Home page
W. S. Bartynski and L. Lin
Lumbar Root Compression in the Lateral Recess: MR Imaging, Conventional Myelography, and CT Myelography Comparison with Surgical Confirmation
AJNR Am. J. Neuroradiol., March 1, 2003; 24(3): 348 - 360.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 RadiologyHome page
D. Weishaupt, M. R. Schmid, M. Zanetti, N. Boos, B. Romanowski, R. O. Kissling, J. Dvorak, and J. Hodler
Positional MR Imaging of the Lumbar Spine: Does It Demonstrate Nerve Root Compromise Not Visible at Conventional MR Imaging?
Radiology, April 1, 2000; 215(1): 247 - 253.
[Abstract] [Full Text]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
RADIOLOGY RADIOGRAPHICS RSNA JOURNALS ONLINE
Copyright © 1990 by the Radiological Society of North America.