Studies done mainly in adults have shown an association between annular tears and nuclear degeneration. We wanted to study this association in the pediatric population to better understand the natural history of disk degeneration in its early stages. We hypothesized that this association is discernible even at a young age and that annular tears precede nuclear degeneration.
Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, 510 S Kingshighway Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63110, USA. sharmaa@mir.wustl.edu
