Abstract

Background: Degenerative disc disease is a common word for the condition in which an injured vertebral disc leads to chronic pain, 40% of people aged 40 years or above have disc degenerative disease. This increases to 80% in people aged 80 years or above. The present study assessed the pattern of cervical magnetic resonance imaging findings in diagnosed cases of degenerative disc disease.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 441 patients with persistent neck pain who are suspected of having degenerative intervertebral disc disease, and who had underwent a cervical spine magnetic resonance imaging interpreted by a consultant radiologist at Al-Qassim national hospital using a 1.5 Tesla magnet. The cases were collected through a picture archiving and communication system from January 2018 to January 2020. The Chi-square test was carried out for data analysis.
Results: Degenerative disc disease in diffuse disc bulge and protrusion was found in all of the study subjects accounting for 441; diffuse disc bulge was the commonest degenerative change found in 306 subjects (69.4%), followed by protrusion found in 126 (28.6%). C5-C6 was the most common level for degenerative disc disease accounting for 46.9%. All results of age-related degeneration were non-significant, except the correlation between age and disc osteophyte complex. All results of sex-related degeneration were non-significant.
Conclusion: Disc degeneration and the changes associated had no associations to either sex.

Key words: Chronic neck pain, cervical disc degeneration, cervical MRI