MRI Findings of Cervical Spine Lesions among Symptomatic Patients and Their Risk Factors

Background: Cervical spine and intervertebral discs are potentially prone to functional disorders. Objectives:This study sought type and distribution of different pathologies in the cervical spineanda possiblerelationshipbetweentheMRIfindingsandtheprobableriskfactorsof thedegenerativedisorders. Material and methods: This descriptive cross-sectional research was carried out from October 2000 to January 2002 in three referral centers in Tehran. All the patients had referredforcervicalMRIforneckpainand/orradicularpain. Results:Totally342patientsentered the study. Sixtypercent ofpatientsweremale.The meanagewas55.112.1years.Seventy-ninepercentofpatientshadabnormalMRI findings (238patients(70%)hadsignsofdegenerativeprocessesand31patients(9%)hadtheother findings)witha total308pathologies.Themostcommonfindingswerediscbulging/protrusion (%21.1), discdehydration (%20.1), discherniation (%18.1),and canal stenosis(%17.5). Older age,malegenderandhistoryofnecktraumawereassociatedwithincreasingprobabilityof degenerativechanges(P-Values<0.05). Conclusion:Types ofcervicalspinepathologies arecomparable to other reports.Theanatomical distributionofdiscbulgingandprotrusioninourstudyaresimilartootherreports. Likewiseage,genderanda historyoftraumatotheneckwerecloselyassociatedwiththe degenerativesignsontheMRimages.