THE ROLE OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING IN THE DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT ORIENTATION OF CERVICAL SPINAL STENOSIS SYNDROMES

Objectives: To study on the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to diagnose the causes of cervical spinal stenosis and contribution to therapeutic orientations in cervical spinal stenosis patients. Materials and methods: Descriptive cross-sectional studies of 55 consecutive patients with cervical canal stenosis on magnetic resonance imaging in Radiology department of Hue University Hospital of Medicine and Pharmacy. Results: The mean age of the patients was 49.6 ± 11.2, and 61.8% of cases were males. Age group 40-60 was highest ratio (67.3%). The cervical spine pain was the most common symptom of cervical canal stenosis. Abnormal reflexes of upper limb tendons were one of the more common symptoms (72.7%). The combined presentation of all three syndromes: cervical spine pain, cervical root compression, and cervical cord compression that were 54.5%. The cervical herniated disc (92.7%) is the most common cause of acquired cervical spinal stenosis. According to classical classification of cervical spinal stenosis, 52.7% of patients with absolute stenosis and 47.3% of patients with relative stenosis. According to the Kang classification in 2011, grade 1 stenosis is 50.9%, grade 2 stenosis is 36.4% and grade 3 stenosis 12.7%. Conclusion: There was a concordance between the clinical presentation and imaging manifestation of cervical canal stenosis. The concordance between the cervical canal stenosis by Kang grading system and clinical symptoms by Nurickscore were more than average with Kappa = 0.58. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the grade of injury on magnetic resonance imaging in combination with clinical symptoms to choose a reasonable treatment method for patients with acquired cervical spinal stenosis. Key words: Magnetic resonance imaging, cervical spine pain, cervical canal stenosis