Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Each Type of Herniated Lumbar Intervertebral Disc

요추 추간판 탈출증의 유형별 자기공명영상 소견

The classification of herniated intervertebral lumbar disc type is clinically important, as treatment method may be slightly different according to the type of herniated intervertebral disc. When 450 patients who suffered from herniated intervertebral lumbar disc were tested with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to find out the type of herniated disc, the following findings were given : 1. The age of the patients investigated ranged from 15 to 83, and their mean age was 40. 2. The male patients were twice as many as the female patients, since the ratio of males to females was 300 : 150. 3. 118 patients suffered from a single herniated disc, and 332 patients were attacked with multi-herniated disc. 4. The types of single herniated disc were a protrusion for 50 patients (40%) and an extrusion for 40 patients (34%). The part of being herniated was an intervertebral disc between $L_4-L_5$ for 95 patients(80%) and the same disc between $L_5-S_1$ for 22 patients(19%). 5. The types of multi : -herniated disc were an protrusion for 67 patients(20%) and an extrusion for 70 patients(21%). Besides, 90 patients (28%) were the case that protrusion and extrusion coexisted simultaneously. The parts of being herniated were $L_3-L_4,\;L_4-L_5$ and $L_5-S_1$ for 53 patients(16%), $L_3-L_4$ and $L_4-L_5$ for 57 patients(17%), and $L_4-L_5$ and $L_5-S_1$ for 139 patients(42%).