IS THERE A CLINICAL CORRELATE TO THE HISTOLOGIC EVIDENCE OF INFLAMMATION IN HERNIATED LUMBAR-DISC TISSUE

Study Design. The presence of inflammatory cells was examined immunohi stochemically in routinely processed resection specimens of the lumbar disc. The histologic results were compared with prospectively obtaine d clinical data. Objectives. To assess the clinical relevance of infla mmatory cells in herniated lumbar disc specimens. Summary of Backgroun d Data. It is postulated that in addition to nerve root compression, a n inflammatory stimulus of the herniated lumbar disc is responsible fo r sciatic pain and radiculopathy. However, the clinical relevance of t he histologically described inflammatory infiltrates is not defined cl early. Methods. Disc specimens from 44 patients who underwent surgery for lumbar disc herniation were studied immunohistologically. Before s urgery, severity of pain was classified in each patient according to a visual analog scale, and general clinical data were recorded prospect ively. Results. Varying amounts of inflammatory cells could be demonst rated in the resected disc tissue. In the statistical analysis, no sta tistically significant correlation between the histologic evidence of macrophage infiltrates and the pain grading scale or the clinical data was noted. Conclusions. There is no statistically significant correla tion between macrophage infiltrates in herniated lumbar disc specimens and the obtained clinical data.