Spine
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Man's quest for recognition has not escaped the physician, whose contributions to medicine perpetuate his name in print. It is a final grasp for professional immortality, which for men like Imhotep and Hippocrates, has prevailed for millennia. This fervor was particularly evident in the latter 19th century, which created a flurry of eponyms, often two or more physicians publishing the same clinical observation. This article reviews the eponym epidemic as it relates to lumbar radiculopathy.
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The anatomy and physiology of the nerve root complex in the lumbar spine are reviewed, with special reference to the effects of mechanical deformation of nerve roots in association with intervertebral disc herniation and spinal stenosis. Biomechanical aspects of nerve root deformation induced by compression are discussed. ⋯ Nerve root compression can, by different neurophysiologic mechanisms, induce motor weakness and altered sensibility or pain. Intraneural edema and demyelination seem to be critical factors for the production of pain in association with nerve root compression.