title: How often is low back pain or sciatica not due to lumbar disc disease?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the percentage of low back pain or sciatica referred for MRI in which the main abnormality was not disc disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a retrospective study of 634 consecutive lumbar spine MRI`s in patients with low back pain or sciatica performed over 6-month period (January to June 2002).  The study was conducted at the University Hospital of King Abdul-Aziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.  All patients were scanned on a 1.5-T MRI system.  The examination included T-1 weighted sagittal images and proton density and T-2 weighted sagittal and axial images.  Contrast enhanced images were obtained selectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nine patients were eliminated because they were being followed for a known diagnosis, leaving 625 patients in the study group.  Of these, 11 patients (1.7%) had a new diagnosis of metastatic disease to the bony spine, 7 of which (1.1%) had a known primary and 4 of which (0.6%) had no known primary malignancy.   Two patients (0.3%) had spinal tumors: one conus ependymoma and one schwannoma.  Four patients had non-neoplastic causes of low back pain including syringomyelia, discitis, spondylolisthesis, and an osteoporotic compression fracture.  In all, 17 of 625 patients (2.7%) had a new diagnosis of a treatable cause of low back pain or sciatica other than disc disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In patients with low back pain or radiculopathy, 2.7% have significant pathologies other than disc disease.
authors: Radiology Department, The University Hospital, King Abdul-Aziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.   Tel/Fax. +966 (2) 6401863. E-mail:  tersam2@yahoo.com.
authors: Sattam S
authors: SS
authors: Lingawi