title: Visualisation of symptomatic nerve roots. Prospective study of contrast-enhanced MRI in patients with lumbar disc herniation.
abstract: We studied the use of gadolinium diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid-enhanced MRI in the detection of pathological changes in the nerve roots of 25 patients with unilateral sciatica due to lumbar disc herniation. Enhancement was observed in the affected nerve roots within the root sleeve at the caudal edge of the herniation and was classified into three categories: grade 0, none; grade 1, enhancement restricted to a focal region within the sleeve; and grade 2, diffuse and homogeneous. The grade of enhancement correlated well with the severity of the sciatica, and was considered to be due to a disruption of the blood-nerve barrier, leading to oedema.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, School of Medicine, Chiba University, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Toyone
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kitahara
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamagata
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murakami
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Moriya
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003287:Contrast Media; D005260:Female; D005682:Gadolinium; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D006801:Humans; D007405:Intervertebral Disc Displacement / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D004369:Pentetic Acid; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012585:Sciatica / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D013126:Spinal Nerve Roots / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D004369:Pentetic Acid; D005682:Gadolinium; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA