CT findings in the vertebral column in the radicular lumbosacral syndrome.

An analysis of the CT findings in 150 patients with the radicular lumbosacral syndrome showed that 98 of them (65.3%) were suffering from intervertebral disc prolapse or protrusion. In 44 of these patients the finding of a prolapsed disc was combined with major spondylarthrosis while 20 others had marked spondylarthrosis or spondylosis with no apparent disc prolapse. Other findings included metastatic destruction of the vertebra (4 cases), fractured vertebra (2 cases), osteoid osteoma (1 case), and discitis (1 case). Slight or major asymmetry was found in 94 per cent, and a high incidence (38.8%) of the atypical rotatable type of intervertebral articulation was noted. The high percentage seems to confirm the hypothesis, according to which the rotatable type of intervertebral union is one of the predisposing factors for the development of the radicular lumbosacral syndrome.