Concomitant lower thoracic spine XXXX in lumbar spine MR imaging studies.

@entity1 @entity1643 @entity66
Our objective was to study the coexistence of lower thoracic-spine disc changes in @entity1 with @entity1643 using a large field of view (FOV) in lumbar spine MR imaging. One hundred fifty @entity1 with @entity1643 were referred to an MR examination. All @entity1 were studied with a large FOV (27 cm), covering from the coccyx to at least the body of T11. Discs were coded as normal, protrusion, and extrusion (either epiphyseal or intervertebral). The relationship between @entity66 and level was established with the Pearson chi(2) test. The T11-12 was the most commonly affected level of the lower thoracic spine with 58 disc cases rated as abnormal. Abnormalities of T11-12 and T12-L1 discs were significantly related only to L1-L2 disease ( p=0.001 and p=0.004, respectively) but unrelated to other @entity66 , @entity1 's gender, and age. No correlation was found between other discs. Magnetic resonance imaging of the lumbar spine can detect a great amount of lower thoracic disease, although its clinical significance remains unknown. A statistically significant relation was found within the thoracolumbar junctional region (T11-L2), reflecting common pathoanatomical changes. The absence of relation with lower lumbar spine discs is probably due to differences in their pathomechanisms.
