Serial MR Imaging of Annular Tears in Lumbar Intervertebral Disks
Fletcher M. Muntera,
Bruce A. Wassermana,
Hsiu-Mei Wub and
David M. Yousema
a The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Baltimore, MD
b Department of Radiology, Veterans General Hospital-Taipei, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
View larger version (115K):
[in a new window]
|
FIG 1. Contrast enhancement of an annular tear at initial and follow-up imaging.
A, Annular tear shows contrast enhancement. Sagittal T1-weighted contrast-enhanced MR image (600/14 [TR/TE]) of the lumbar spine shows focal contrast enhancement at the posterior margin of the L5-S1 disk.
B, Image of the same patient shown in A. Sagittal T1-weighted contrast-enhanced MR image (600/14) obtained 24 months later reveals persistent enhancement of the annular tear at the posterior margin of the L5-S1 disk.
| |
View larger version (104K):
[in a new window]
|
FIG 2. Hyperintensity at initial and follow-up imaging.
A, An initial sagittal fast spin-echo (2800/98) T2-weighted MR image shows the lumbar spine has abnormal focal hyperintensity in the posterior margin of the L5-S1 disk, indicating annular tear.
B, Image of the same patient shown in A. Sagittal fast spin-echo T2-weighted MR image (2800/98) obtained 26 months later reveals persistent abnormal focal hyperintensity at the posterior margins of the L5-S1 disk.
| |
