Magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis of lower thoracic disc herniation.

The diagnosis of thoracic disc herniation can be difficult due to the lack of a characteristic clinical presentation. In six recent cases, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provided excellent noninvasive definition of the pathology and its level, in spite of atypical clinical presentation, and also provided anatomic information allowing surgical planning. Two examples are presented in which myelography was not helpful, but MRI was diagnostic. MRI scanning is the radiographic procedure of choice when thoracic disc herniation is in the differential diagnosis.