The Relation Among Neck Pain, Modic Changes and Uncal Degeneration: An MRI Study

Abstract

INTRODUCTION[|]The present study aims to investigate the correlation of neck pain with Modic changes and uncal degeneration. Our secondary goal is to investigate the relationship among Modic changes, disc herniation and uncovertebral joint degeneration in the cervical spine.[¤]METHODS[|]In this study, patients with a presenting symptom of neck pain were evaluated. We have excluded patients with spinal and cervical mass lesions, spinal fracture and history of cervical vertebral operation. Pain evaluation was made using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) at rest. The cervical vertebral MRI and X-ray were used for radiological evaluation. In these scannings, loss of cervical lordosis, uncal degeneration, Modic changes and intervertebral disc degeneration were recorded.[¤]RESULTS[|]The findings showed that Modic changes were more frequent in patients with disc hernia compared with patients without disc hernia (p<0.001). The uncal degeneration was significantly more frequent in patients with Modic changes than in patients without Modic changes (p<0.001). The VAS scores were not associated with Modic changes (p=0.919).[¤]DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION[|]The disc herniations and uncal degeneration are related to Modic changes in the cervical spine. The neck pain was not associated with Modic changes, which may arises from the study population with mostly chronic neck pain. Recommendations are provided to investigate a new large cohort study in the patient with acute pain.[¤]

Keywords

• cervical degeneration
• modic changes; neck pain; uncal degeneration.