Electromyography and magnetic resonance imaging in the evaluation of radiculopathy

Electromyography (EMG) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are commonly us ed in the diagnosis of cervical and lumbosacral radiculopathy, but the agre ement between the two studies is unknown. We retrospectively studied 47 pat ients with a clinical history compatible with either cervical or lumbosacra l radiculopathy who were evaluated with both an EMG and a spine MRI within 2 months of each other. Among these patients, 55% had an EMG abnormality an d 57% had an MRI abnormality that correlated with the clinically estimated level of radiculopathy. The two studies agreed in a majority (60%) of patie nts, with both normal in 11 and both abnormal in 17; however, only one stud y was abnormal in a significant minority (40%), suggesting that the two stu dies remain complementary diagnostic modalities. The agreement was higher i n patients with abnormal findings on neurologic examination, underscoring t he difficulty of confirming the diagnosis in mild radiculopathy. (C) 1999 J ohn Wiley & Sons, Inc.