Acta radiologica
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Comparative Study
Lumbar disc degeneration. Correlation between CT and CT/discography.
Computed tomography (CT) images of 59 discs in 30 patients suffering from low back pain were compared with CT/discography images of the same discs in order to assess the correlation between intradiscal damage and changes in annular configuration and density. The discs were graded in CT as not bulging, slight protrusion, advanced protrusion or disc herniation, and were checked for local areas of hypodensity. General degeneration and annular disruption in CT/discography were evaluated separately according to the Dallas Discogram Description, on a scale of non-existent, slight, moderate, or severe. ⋯ Disc herniation was associated only with severe annular disruption. Local hypodensity proved to be a specific but insensitive sign of annular disruption. It is concluded that a bulging disc is a sign of intradiscal damage and should be noted even when there is no nerve entrapment present.
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Six pigs with coronary artery occlusion were investigated with MR imaging before and subsequently for about 2.5 hours at repeated intervals after the intravenous administration of Gd-DTPA (0.4 mmol/kg). The animals were sacrificed after a total occlusion time of 6 hours and the hearts were excised. The excised hearts were then reexamined in the MR equipment and stained with TTC (triphenyl tetrazolium) in order to define areas of infarction. ⋯ Ex vivo, without any contrast media, the infarctions were poorly discriminated with a discretely increased signal intensity relative to normal myocardium in the T2 weighted images. Gd-DTPA was found to accumulate in the infarctions, which caused an elevated signal intensity most pronounced in the T1 weighted images. This considerably improved the delineation of the infarcted area.