The value of computed tomographic metrizamide myelography in the neuroradiological evaluation of the spine.

The diagnostic value of plain film metrizamide myelography (PFMM) was compared with computed tomographic metrizamide myelography (CTMM) in a study of 106 individuals who had undergone high-resolution computed tomographic scanning of the spine. CTMM provided more significant information than PFMM in 42 of 106 cases (40%), but showed no advantage over PFMM in 63 of 106 cases (59%). In 19 of the 42 cases (45%), PFMM was useful in directing the CT analysis to the appropriate region of pathology. In one patient, PFMM revealed a mobile herniated disc that had not been visualized with CTMM. In 30 of 106 cases in which plain CT scans of the spine were also obtained, the addition of intrathecal metrizamide demonstrated additional pathology in ten individuals. In general, CTMM was useful in the delineation of a variety of pathologic entities, especially neoplasms and congenital abnormalities. Low-dose CTMM (3 ml of a 150 ml/mg concentration) was performed as an outpatient procedure and found to be a useful adjunct to plain CT in two patients. A schema for the radiological evaluation of pathology of the spine is presented.