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This paper will review the diagnostic imaging work-up of disc-related nerve root impingement including the role and technique of CT and MRI. Clinical and anatomical elements will be reviewed along with considerations regarding the radiology report, including a review of the proper descriptive terminology. Finally, clinical and imaging pitfalls will be discussed. In addition to specific features related to thoracic and lumbar segments, clinical and imaging differential diagnoses are reviewed: non-disc related radicular pain (intradural or extra-spinal), differential diagnosis of "enlarged" nerve roots (free disc fragment, cyst of a nerve root sleeve, tumors, normal variants.).

Conventional radiography plays a key-role in the assessment of symptomatic hips. A well-performed radiographic examination (comparative A-P views with straight or ascending X-Ray beam, off-lateral view of Lequesne) enables to recognise most bone (fractures, transient osteoporosis, epiphyseal osteonecrosis) and articular lesions (osteoarthritis). In some situations (incoherent radio-clinical findings, need of a confident diagnosis), joint aspiration or additional imaging procedures are needed. Serial radiographs are obtained when no specific treatment can be immediately offered. Bone scintigraphy is obtained to confidently exclude bone or articular disorders or in case of suspected disseminated bone disease. The majority of bone, articular and abarticular lesions can be diagnosed by using MRI. It should be obtained when results are likely to influence the final outcome of the disease.

The bone marrow is a complex organ that contains fat and nonfat cells, the proportion of which varies greatly with age and in the different bones of the skeleton. Magnetic resonance imaging provides information on the composition of the medullary cavity of any given bone and on the distribution of red and yellow marrow in the skeleton. The wide spectrum of appearances of the normal bone marrow at MR imaging will be reviewed. The purpose of this paper is to determine the MR appearance of the bone marrow, to illustrate the phenomenon of marrow conversion and to familiarize the readers with the complex parameters that interfere with the MR appearance of normal bone marrow.