Radiological assessment of loss of disc height during acute and chronic degenerative lumbar disc alterations.

A loss of disc heigh with increasing segmental mobility is an important rea son for low back pain. The measurement of hyaluronic acid content of the nu cleus pulposus prolaps shows a difference between acute (group 1) and chron ic (group 2) disc degeneration. The purpose of the present investigation wa s to determine the decreasing of disc height between these two groups and t he not-symptomatic segments of these patients. Methods: 20 human lateral pr eoperative X-rays measurements according to Frobin et al. [1] were taken; g roup 1 with 7 patients (mean age 41 years) and group 2 with 13 patients (me an age 44 years). Results: There was a significant tendency (p = 0.091) to a reduction of disc height in group 2 between symptomatic and asymptomatic discs. Conclusion: The used method is not suitable to answer the present qu estion conclusively.