The prevalence of redundant nerve roots in standing positional MRI decreases by half in supine and almost to zero in flexed seated position: a retrospective cross-sectional cohort study.

PURPOSE: This retrospective cross-sectional cohort study investigated the influence of posture on lordosis (LL), length of the spinal canal (LSC), anteroposterior diameter (APD L1-L5), dural cross-sectional area (DCSA) of the lumbar spinal canal, and the prevalence of redundant nerve roots (RNR) using positional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (0.6 T). METHODS: Sixty-eight patients with single-level degenerative central lumbar spinal stenosis (cLSS) presenting with RNR in the standing position (STA) were also investigated in supine (SUP) or neutral seated (SIT) and flexed seated (FLEX) positions. Additionally, 45 patients complaining of back pain and without MRI evidence of LSS were evaluated. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. RESULTS: Controls (A) and patients with cLSS (B) were comparable in terms of mean age (p = 0.88) and sex (p = 0.22). The progressive transition from STA to FLEX led to a comparable decrease in LL (p = 0.97), an increase in LSC (p = 0.80), and an increase in APD L1-L5 (p = 0.78). The APD of the stenotic level increased disproportionally between the different postures, up to 67% in FLEX compared to 29% in adjacent non-stenotic levels (p < 0.001). Therefore, the prevalence of RNR decreased to 49, 26, and 4% in SUP, SIT, and FLEX, respectively. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of RNR in standing position was underestimated by half in supine position. Body postures modified LL, LSC, and APD similarly in patients and controls. Stenotic levels compensated for insufficient intraspinal volume with a disproportionate enlargement when switching from the STA to FLEX.

Redundant nerve roots in lumbar spinal stenosis: inter- and intra-rater reliability of an MRI-based classification.

PURPOSE: Patients with central lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) have a longer symptom history, more severe stenosis, and worse postoperative outcomes, when redundant nerve roots (RNRs) are evident in the preoperative MRI. The objective was to test the inter- and intra-rater reliability of an MRI-based classification for RNR. METHODS: This is a retrospective reliability study. A neuroradiologist, an orthopedic surgeon, a neurosurgeon, and three orthopedic surgeons in-training classified RNR on 126 preoperative MRIs of patients with LSS admitted for microsurgical decompression. On sagittal and axial T2-weighted images, the following four categories were classified: allocation (A) of the key stenotic level, shape (S), extension (E), and direction (D) of the RNR. A second read with cases ordered differently was performed 4 weeks later. Fleiss and Cohen's kappa procedures were used to determine reliability. RESULTS: The allocation, shape, extension, and direction (ASED) classification showed moderate to almost perfect inter-rater reliability, with kappa values (95% CI) of 0.86 (0.83, 0.90), 0.62 (0.57, 0.66), 0.56 (0.51, 0.60), and 0.66 (0.63, 0.70) for allocation, shape, extension, and direction, respectively. Intra-rater reliability was almost perfect, with kappa values of 0.90 (0.88, 0.92), 0.86 (0.84, 0.88), and 0.84 (0.81, 0.87) for shape, extension, and direction, respectively. Intra-rater kappa values were similar for junior and senior raters. Kappa values for inter-rater reliability were similar between the first and second reads (p = 0.06) among junior raters and improved among senior raters (p = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS: The MRI-based classification of RNR showed moderate-to-almost perfect inter-rater and almost perfect intra-rater reliability.