Relationship Between Lumbar Foraminal Stenosis and… : Spine
al nerve can give rise to radicular symptoms and back pain. LFS can impede function and induce atrophy of the segmentally innervated multifidus muscle. Materials and Methods. Patients with degenerative lumbar spinal conditions who underwent posterior spinal fusion for degenerative lumbar disease from December 2014 to February 2024 were analyzed. Multifidus fatty infiltration (FI) and functional cross-sectional area (fCSA) were determined at the L4 upper endplate axial level on T2-weighted MRI scans using dedicated software. The severity of LFS was assessed at all lumbar levels and sides using the Lee classification (grade: 0–3). For each level, Pfirrmann and Weishaupt gradings were used to assess intervertebral disc disease (IVDD) and facet joint osteoarthritis (FJOA), respectively. Multivariable linear mixed models were run for the LFS grade of each level and side separately as the independent predictor of multifidus FI and fCSA. Each analysis was adjusted for age, sex, BMI, as well a
