Imaging of lumbar degenerative changes involving structures other than disk space.

Degenerative changes in the lumbar spine involve intervertebral disks and intervertebral posterior elements at different extents. Much less attention has been directed toward degenerative changes of the posterior vertebral elements, however, when compared with intervertebral disk degeneration. These changes may involve the apophyseal joints, the bony elements of the neural arch, the intervening soft tissues, and the spinal longitudinal ligament. Roentgenographic, CT, and MR findings in these changes are depicted.