Study of the maximum intensity projection (MIP) image in lumbar 3D MR myelography. Visualization of nerve roots

We sometimes encounter patients with radicular pain and numbness of the legs whose lumbar MRI scans show no significant findings. Other advanced examinations, such as myelography and selective nerve root block, are required to identify the cause of the symptoms and the level of the lesions in such patients, but because they are invasive, we attempt to visualize the lumbar spinal nerve roots involved by performing 3D MR myelogarphy (3D-MRM) by our original method. The images are reconstructed by processing the 3D-MRM volume data set by our method. Fifteen cases, including three normal subjects, were evaluated in our series. Clearer root images in comparison with conventional 3D-MRM were obtained in every case. Our method is very useful for visualizing nerve roots at the lumbar spine level and is helpful in identifying the cause of radicular pain when lumbar MRI scans do not show any lesions. (author)