Value of MR myelography in the diagnosis of the spine disorders

BACKGROUND: TO evaluate the utility of myelography obtained with MR imaging (MR-myelography) as a complementary tool in patients studied with a conven tional MR examination of the spine, PATIENTS AND METHODS: 275 consecutive patients were included. All of them w ere studied with MR-myelography in 2 planes, coronal and sagittal, with a t urbo spin-echo single-shot technique, as a complement to a conventional MR study of the spine; 130 were males and 145 women, with ages ranging from 20 to 71 years (mean, 45 years). The analyzed variables were age, sex, verteb ral segment studied, alteration of the dural sac, intradural nerve roots, e mergent roots, and presence of intradural lesions, meningeal cysts, and spi nal stenosis. The added value of MR-myelography regarding conventional MR w as categorized, RESULTS: MR-myelography obtained new information in 88 cases (32%), being c onsidered irrelevant information in 42 cases and relevant in 46 cases (16.7 % of all cases) (amputations of the emergent roots and alterations of the i ntradural roots). MR-myelography did not contribute to any type of addition al information to the conventional MR study in 187 cases (68% of all studie s). CONCLUSIONS: MR-myelography is a rapid acquisition technique that supplemen ts the conventional MR study of the spine, contributing with relevant new i nformation in the analysis of the spine diseases 16.7% of cases.