Enhancing back pain and sciatica diagnosis: Coronal short tau inversion recovery’s role in routine lumbar magnetic resonance imaging protocols

Table 1 Pathologic findings on magnetic resonance sequences

	Number of cases	Percentage
Pathology evident on T1 and T2 sequences
Disc prolapse	147	53.65%
Canal stenosis	39	14.23%
Spondylolisthesis	9	3.28%
Schmorl’s node (non-pathologic finding)	5	1.82%
Fracture	4	1.46%
Spinal dysraphism	2	0.73%
Findings suggestive of a neoplastic process	1	0.36%
Spondylodiscitis	1	0.36%
Pathologies outside the vertebral structures	0	0.00%
Non-pathologic findings (normal)	83	30.29%
Pathology evident on coronal STIR sequence
Pathologies outside the vertebral structures	26	9.49%
Sacroiliitis	23	8.39%
Findings suggestive of a neoplastic process	16	5.84%
Fracture	4	1.46%
Spinal dysraphism	1	0.36%
Legg-Calve-Perthes disease	1	0.36%
Non-pathologic findings (normal)	199	72.63%

STIR: Short tau inversion recovery.

Table 2 Coronal short tau inversion recovery results and patients’ characteristics, n (%)

Characteristics	Abnormal coronal STIR	Normal coronal STIR	P value
Mean age	43.96	45.26	0.5604a
Females	47 (29.56)	112 (70.44)	0.4103b
Males	28 (24.35)	87 (75.65)

^aUnpaired t-test.

^bFisher’s exact test.

STIR: Short tau inversion recovery.