Category Neurological Imaging

Spinal alignment

Key points Global spinal balance is equally important as it is a dynamic process that includes the spine along with compensatory mechanisms consisting of the hips, and ankles. Current commonly used spinal measurements include cervical lordosis, thoracic kyphosis, and lumbar…

Paraspinal muscles

Key points Erector spinae, lumbar multifidus, quadratus lumborum, and psoas major are commonly investigated paraspinal muscles. Magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography provide high-quality muscle images for the quantification of muscle morphometry, while ultrasonography is a low-cost noninvasive method capturing…

Facet joints

Key Points Pathologic changes seen in facet joint degeneration include fibrillation, joint space narrowing, articular cartilage thinning, subchondral bone sclerosis, osteophytosis, and development of juxta-facet cysts. Risk factors for facet joint degeneration include lower spinal level, increasing age, sagittal orientation,…

Lumbar spinal stenosis

Key points Lumbar spinal stenosis is a complex disease with a plethora of clinical and imaging phenotypes. Developmental lumbar spinal stenosis is caused by mal-development of pedicles and posterior elements leading to narrowed bony spinal canals, and these patients are…

Vertebral bone marrow (Modic) changes

Key points Modic changes are subchondral and vertebral bone marrow changes in conjunction with intervertebral disc degeneration, and they are classified into three categories (types 1, 2, and 3) based on magnetic resonance imaging appearance. Modic changes, especially Modic type…

Disc space narrowing and osteophytes

Key points Disc space narrowing and osteophyte formation are features of the general spine condition known as intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration IVD degeneration is an age-related condition IVD degeneration is highly heritable The burden of IVD degeneration predicts the likelihood…