Degenerative Disease of the Spine and Spinal Arthritides

Degenerative diseases of the spine and spinal arthritides are extraordinarily common and pose a significant health care burden (1). Degenerative changes and arthritides can involve the intervertebral disc, facets, and ligamentum flavum. These conditions typically involve the gradual loss of normal structure and function of the spine over time. Symptoms most commonly occur due to nerve root compression which can result in radicular pain or localized inflammatory changes which can result in axial back pain. Nerve roots can be compressed within the spinal canal, the subarticular zone, or neural foramen (2). Consistent and detailed characterization with appropriate grading of associated findings is important to patient management. A variety of multidisciplinary groups have proposed consensus nomenclature guidelines including Spine 2.0 which should be adhered to whenever possible (3). The imaging features of degenerative diseases of the spine and spinal arthritides are discussed in this chapter.