[Natural history of lumbar disc hernias: does gadolinium enhancement have any prognostic value?]

To evaluate the percentage of disc hernias that have disappeared after one year of follow-up and the time to disappearance. To determine whether gadolinium enhancement is useful for predicting whether the hernia will disappear. To analyze whether the pattern of enhancement can help predict whether the fragment will disappear.

This prospective study included 118 patients with acute symptoms of lumbosciatica and a herniated disc diagnosed by CT. In 72 patients, we performed gadolinium-enhanced MRI every 6 months for one year or until the herniation disappeared; we related the findings of protrusion, extrusion, and the enhancement pattern with the disappearance or persistence of herniated disc material. We analyzed the results with univariate and multivariate statistics.

The 59% of the hernias disappeared within 1 year of follow-up and 66% disappeared within the first 8 months of follow-up. The 83% of the extruded hernias disappeared, and this was significant in the multivariate analysis (P<.005). The absence of enhancement was significantly associated with the persistence of the hernia in the univariate analysis. The enhancement pattern was not useful for predicting whether the hernia would disappear. Five hernias disappeared within the first two months.

A high percentage of disc hernias disappear. We found a significant association between extrusion and disappearance but no correlation between the pattern of gadolinium uptake and the disappearance of the hernia.