Weight-bearing MRI for dynamic evaluations of spinal and neural foraminal stenosis

Excerpt

The study presents an interesting work that raises an important clinical problem, which is the diagnosis of lumbar spinal stenosis [1]. In middle-aged or older individuals, compression of a spinal nerve root within a foramen is a common source of radiating leg pain [2] and globally causes severe physical impairment among many patients [3]. With a rising number of spinal surgical procedures, there is an urgent need for accurate and robust diagnostics to improve the possibility of correct treatment. The authors have developed a novel compression device that can be used for spine evaluation with and without axial loading during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Radiological evaluation of the lumbar spine is conventionally performed with MRI in a relaxed supine position. This may limit the diagnostic accuracy since the symptoms of radiculopathy are mainly provoked at an upright position. It is not rare in clinical practice to see patients with radiating leg pain, especially if intermittent, where no explanatory pathology is seen on the lumbar MR images. Also, sometimes several spinal levels can be suspected as the potential pain source, and therefore, finding the source of the symptoms is challenging. …