Reviewer's comment concerning 'The influence of preoperative MRI findings on lumbar fusion clinical outcomes' (doi:10.1007/s00586-012-2244-9 Mladen Djurasovic, Leah Y. Carreon, Charles H. Crawford III, Jason Zook, Kelly Bratcher, Steven D. Glassman)

摘要

The authors of this study address the important question, whether any of the well-known and accepted MRI parameters has a predictive value in regard to outcome.In our daily clinical routine indication for surgery and the expected outcome are to a considerable degree based on the MRI findings in a particular patient. Therefore, the results of this study are of value.The authors included 51 patients with 71 treated disc levels to investigate which of the well-known disc changes [disc desiccation, disc contour, presence of a high-intensity zone (HIZ) annular tear, presence of Modic endplate changes, disc height] has an influence on the 2-year outcome after lumbar fusion.