Lower back pain is a leading musculoskeletal cause of human impairment and disability. The costs – healthcare, physical therapy, lost work time/productivity – attributed to low back pain range from $16 to $90 billion per year. Common causes of low back and/or radicular pain are lumbar strain, herniated nucleus pulposus, lumbar spondylosis, tumor, and infection. […]
TOPICS
Uterine Fibroids: Evaluating Leiomyomatous Disease with MRI vs CT or Ultrasonography
Uterine leiomyomas or fibroids occur in over 30% of women 40 to 60 years of age. While leiomyomas may develop in any body structure that contains smooth muscle cells, the reproductive tract is the most common site of these benign tumors. Although these tumors originate in smooth muscle cells, fibrosis can be seen after atrophy […]
Sensorineural Hearing Loss: Acoustic Neuroma
Acoustic neuromas (AN) are benign tumors that originate from the root of the eighth cranial nerve. Although they are benign, their position in the cerebellopontine angle can produce severe morbidity due to cranial nerve and brainstem compression. • Presentation. Acoustic neuroma most commonly occurs in middle age, with 50% of patients between the ages of […]
Wrist Pain: Identifying Pathologies in Tiny Structures with High Resolution MRI
MR imaging aids evaluation of a number of abnormalities of the bones, ligaments, and soft tissues in the wrist. These include ligamentous disruption, disorders of the triangular fibrocartilage, ulnar impaction sydrome, damage to articular cartilage, distal radioulnar joint instability, fracture, avascular necrosis, tendinopathy, nerve entrapment syndromes, synovial abnormalities, and soft-tissue masses. Ligamentous Disruption and Carpal […]
MRI of the Degenerative Knee: Detecting Early Changes of Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is an important cause of disability in our society, affecting millions and resulting in limitations on activity. It is primarily a disease of articular cartilage, either from distant injury or degeneration. However many other changes are seen in additional tissues about the knee. Imaging offers a noninvasive means of assessing the degree of damage […]
The Diabetic Foot: How MRI Helps Surgeons Plan Foot-Sparing Procedures
Complications of diabetes mellitus commonly affect the foot, with potentially disastrous consequences. Foot complications in diabetic patients account for more hospital days than any other aspect of the disease. Amputation is the most feared complication of diabetic foot disease, with 40 to 70% of non-traumatic amputations performed on diabetic patients.1 Diabetic foot disease can be […]