Myelogram (Myelography)

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What are some common uses of the procedure?

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Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is often the first imaging exam done to evaluate the spinal cord and nerve roots. However, on occasion, a patient has medical devices, such as a cardiac pacemaker, that may prevent him or her from undergoing MRI. Sometimes, myelography and/or a CT scan is performed in conjunction with MRI to better define abnormalities.

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Myelography is most commonly used to detect abnormalities affecting the spinal cord, the spinal canal, the spinal nerve roots and the blood vessels that supply the spinal cord, including:

 

• to show whether herniations of the material between the vertebral bodies, termed the intervertebral disks, are pushing on nerve roots or the spinal cord.

• to depict a condition that often accompanies degeneration of the bones and soft tissues surrounding the spinal canal, termed spinal stenosis. In this condition, the spinal canal narrows as the surrounding tissues enlarge due to the development of bony spurs (osteophytes) and the adjacent ligaments.

 

 

Myelography can also be used to assess the following conditions when MR imaging cannot be performed, or in addition to MRI:

 

• tumors

• infection

• inflammation of the arachnoid membrane that covers the spinal cord

• spinal lesions caused by disease or trauma

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A myelogram can show whether surgical treatment is promising in a given case and, if it is, can help in planning surgery.