CT evaluation of the lumbosacral spine.

The biologic cost-effectiveness of computed tomography (CT) versus myelography is so favorable to CT that it is now the method of choice for evaluating patients with less clear-cut clinical findings. CT is now used to detect lesions formerly difficult to diagnose, such as subluxation, arthrosis, facet osteophytes, and stenosis of the vertebral canal, as well as herniated disks and lateral disks. The findings in over 1,000 patients examined by CT for lumbosacral spinal pathology are documented. Associated or multiple abnormalities were present in about 60% of cases, with bulging or herniated disks occurring in 45% and 44%, respectively. Postsurgical arachnoiditis was seen in 43% of 64 patients studied for recurrence of symptoms after surgery.