BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Previous studies have shown that axial loading can narrow the spinal canal. However, the clinical significance is unclear. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the narrowing of the spinal canal with axial loading during MR imaging could influence treatment decision for spinal stenosis. METHODS Two hundred patients with clinical symptoms of spinal stenosis ...

The aim of the study was to compare outcome of surgery in patients with lumbar canal stenosis (LCS) based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) morphology. This was a prospective study of 96 consecutive patients who underwent surgery at 143 levels of LCS (from L3-L4 to L5-S1). Using patterns on T2 axial MRI, the type of stenosis was determined for each patient. The Swiss Spinal Stenosis Score (SS...