PRESURGICAL IDENTIFICATION OF EXTRADURAL NERVE ROOT ANOMALIES BY CORONAL FAT-SUPPRESSED MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING - A REPORT OF 6 CASES AND A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

In an attempt to depict the anatomy of the nerve roots, we obtained ma gnetic resonance (MR) images of the lumbar spine in the coronal plane with the frequency-selective fat-suppression technique. With this tech nique, extradural anomalies were identified in 20 (6.7%) of 300 patien ts. We report the appearance on coronal MR images of six surgically co nfirmed extradural anomalous nerve roots together with the myelography findings. These include type Ia, type Ib, and type 3 anomalies. These are readily recognized and allow detailed evaluation of the type of n erve root anomaly.