Older woman with low back pain
In this video review of an older woman’s lumbar MRI scan, Dr. Castanet will show you disc herniations and bulges, endplate degeneration, intravertebral disc herniations, retrolisthesis, spondylolisthesis, Modic changes, paraspinal muscle atrophy, anterior disc herniations, disc collapse, disc dessication, the cauda equina, and other lesions.
This lady has a scheduled appointment for her low back pain, but since I haven’t seen her yet, I don’t know much more than that she has chronic, severe low back pain. In the interim, until her appointment, I retrieved her lumbar MRI scan for review. This MRI scan is only a few months old.
Older woman with low back pain
Dr. Castanet will show you on the sagital images that the difference in the posterior joints of the vertebrae indicate that she has scoliosis. And given that she has multiple level spondylosis, with all the lesions noted above, we can describe her lumbar spine as degenerative scoliosis. The way that degenerative scoliosis originates, and progresses, in a young, normal spine, is that one disc level will become injured, then, over time, that disc will collapse in an asymmetric way. Imagine, for example, the L5-S1 disc herniates, and then collapses on the right side, so that the right side becomes lower than the left side. In time, that will cause all the vertebra above to fall towards the right side. Then there will be asymmetric loads on every disc level above that level. Given enough time, the discs above, will become injured. And, remember the theme I have tirelessly repeated. The disc status causes all the other problems that occur in the spine. Once the discs are injured, they can no longer protect the joints and vertebral bodies, so the bones become progressivley deformed. Then we see all the other lesions I noted in this video.
If I can help you with your back or neck problem, please call me at 404-558=4015.
