Association of lumbar artery narrowing, degenerative changes in disc and endplate and apparent diffusion in disc on postcontrast enhancement of lumbar intervertebral disc

摘要

A decreased supply of nutrition to the intervertebral disc can lead to disc degeneration. Nutrient supply can be simulated in vivo by measuring gadolinium enhancement of the disc. We aimed to study the changes associated with disc degeneration that may have effect on the nutrition of the disc, i.e. lumbar artery narrowing, Modic changes, endplate defects, and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) in nucleus pulposus.