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• Clinical Article •
MRI findings and clinical significance of the lumbar endplate osteochondritis
ZHANG Wen-yu  LIAN Zong-cheng  LIU Jun  ZHANG Xue-ning  HAN Yue 

DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1674-8034.2010.04.010.


[Abstract] Objective: To explore the MRI findings of lumbar endplate osteochondritis and discuss the correlation between its type, stage and low back pain.Materials and Methods: All the 1926 sequential lumbar MRI materials were analyzed retrospectively.Results: In all 1926 cases, 1681 cases presented lumbar degenerative disease, 539 endplates in 432 patients demonstrated osteochondritis, which were subdivided into 4 types according to the MRI findings: bone marrow type, disc type, Schmorl’s node type and mixing type, accounting for 77.3%, 0.7%, 13.2% and 8.8% respectively. Modic 1 of bone marrow type (n=41) account for 2.5% in all lumbar degenerative cases, while Modic 2 (n=289) account for 17.2%. Schmorl’s node type accompanied by Modic 1 (n=18) account for 1.1%, while Schmorl’s node type accompanied by Modic 2 (n=39) account for 2.3%. In pure endplate osteochondritis patients, Modic 1 type was most common (32.3%, 10/31), while in patients associated with lumbar degenerative disease, Modic 2 type was most common (71.1%, 285/401). 62.7% (271/432) patients with osteochondritis complained of low back pain. The incidence of low back pain in Modic 1 of bone marrow type, Schmorl’s node type and disc type were 97.6%, 88.9% and 100%, respectively, obviously higher than that in other types. Fifty-one in 56 Modic 1 endplates transform to Modic 2 completely or partially after conservative management, and the pain disappeared or released. Modic 2 endplate keep stable in MRI findings and clinical symptoms.Conclusion: Endplate osteochondritis is a kind of MRI findings of disc degeneration which results in low back pain. MRI is the best and first choice of modality for detecting it.
[Keywords] Osteochondritis；Lumbar vertebrae, endplate；Discitis；Magnetic resonance imaging

ZHANG Wen-yu Department of Radiology, the Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300211, China

LIAN Zong-cheng* Department of Radiology, the Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300211, China

LIU Jun Department of Radiology, Tianjin Union Medicine Center, Tianjin 300121, China

ZHANG Xue-ning Department of Radiology, the Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300211, China

HAN Yue Department of Radiology, the Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300211, China

*Correspondence to: Lian ZC, E-mail: jiarui053@yahoo.com.cn

Conflicts of interest   None.

Received  2010-02-11
Accepted  2010-04-06
DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8034.2010.04.010
DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1674-8034.2010.04.010.

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