Chapter Preview Chapter Synopsis The current gold standard for treatment of disk degeneration is spinal fusion. Although effective in controlling pain, spinal fusion leads to restricted spinal motion and potentially to adjacent level degeneration. The goal of management should be…
Chapter Preview Chapter Synopsis Cervical disk degeneration becomes more prevalent with increasing age and can affect both male and female patients equally. Genes associated with disk degeneration include those coding for collagen I and IX, vitamin D receptor, and matrix…
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…
Key points High-intensity zones (HIZs) represent a hyperintense signal on T2-weighted MRI in the region of the annulus fibrosus and can be used to represent annular tears. HIZs have variable biomechanics, epidemiology, and risk factors and are associated with or…