A comparison between computerized tomography and myelography in radicular lumbar syndromes

The clinical, tomographic and myelographic findings in 40 patients with radicular lumbar syndromes are analysed and discussed. The study shows that indications for surgical treatment must take into account errors in determining the level of the syndrome based on clinical examination (25%), false negatives (10%), and false positives (15%) resulting from CT scan and, finally, false negatives resulting from myelography (10%). It is emphasized that at present there is no real evidence to support preference for one or other of these instrumental tests. Only the clinical examination is capable of evaluating each case individually and thus providing the most reliable indications on which to base both diagnosis and treatment.