OUTPATIENT LOW-DOSE COMPUTED-TOMOGRAPHY METRIZAMIDE MYELOGRAPHY AND EVALUATION OF LUMBAR-DISK DISEASE

Outpatient low-dose computed tomography metrizamide myelography (CTMM) for the evaluation of lumbar disc disease is described in 55 patients. Ten individuals (group 1) were studied using 3.5 ml of 150 mg I/ml (525 mg I total) of metrizamide. Forty-five additional patients (group 2) were examined with 5 ml of 110 mg I/ml (550 mg I total) concentration of metrizamide. Group 2 experienced less post-procedure headache (6.6%) and nausea (2.2%) than did group 1 (30 and 10%, respectively). Group 2 demonstrated a lowered rate of headache (P < 0.01) and showed a trend to less nausea (P < 0.09) than a recently published study describing full-dose lumbar myelography. CTMM in group 2 produced more uniform mixing of metrizamide than in group 1. Low-dose CTMM increased accuracy and reduced morbidity, patient cost and inconvenience as compared with routine full-dose lumbar myelography.