MR spectroscopy in the diagnosis of lumbar discogenic pain

to determine whether magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) provides similar clinical data to low pressure provocative discography (PD).

Twenty patients suffering from axial lower back pain underwent both MRS and PD concurrently. MRS was performed on a Siemens 3T scanner* of the lower three lumbar discs, where possible. Collapsed discs could not be assessed. Low pressure PD was performed on at least the lower three discs, by the author with considerable experience of the technique.

MRS agreed with PD findings in 70-87% of 55 discs tested, depending on the agreement level set. Of the non-agreements, 10/17 were under-calls, 3 were overcalls and 4 were indeterminate.

MRS of lumbar discs may become a viable alternative to PD, as our experience and the technique evolves.