Four patients who had received chymopapain injections for treatment of herniated lumbar disks were evaluated by computed tomography (CT) because of persistent low back pain and suspicion of infection. Irregularity of the vertebral end-plate and a mottled appearance of the vertebral bodies suggested the diagnosis of disk-space infection in all four cases. CT-guided biopsy of the disk space was p...

The purpose of this editorial is to advocate further experimental work such as that which Muhle et al describe in this issue of the American Journal of Neuroradiology (page 1763). For spine imaging, patients are placed in a supine position, often with supports or cushions to enhance their comfort. This position, which minimizes the patient’s discomfort, may diminish any visible effect of spinal...

A successful model to study both herniated intervertebral disks and spinal operations such as laminectomy has not been described. Two procedures were developed in nonhuman primates: One produces an elevated nerve root simulating a herniated disk; the second is a laminectomy that simulates the operation in humans. Twenty-five surgical procedures were performed with no complications. A myelograph...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE By calculating T2 relaxation times for intervertebral disks, we tested the hypothesis that disk water concentration increases between the first and second decades of life. MATERIALS AND METHODS In subjects younger than 10 years old (group 1) and subjects between 19 and 20 years old (group 2), a sagittal MR image of the lumbar spine was obtained with a modified 3D fast s...

Degenerative disc disease has been implicated as a major component of spine pathology. However, although biological repair of the degenerate disk would be the ideal treatment, there is no universally accepted scaffold for tissue engineering of the intervertebral disk. To help remedy this, we investigated the gelation kinetics of various concentrations (2.5 to 10%) of two water-soluble chitosan ...