Degenerative Diseases of the Spine

Many pathological changes in the spine associated with aging develop. All these changes are called degenerative changes of the spine. The exact cause and pathophysiology of these changes that occur with aging are not yet fully known. Pathological changes at the molecular and cellular level involve disruption of the normal chemical or mechanical properties of the annulus fibrosus or nucleus pulposus during normal disc degeneration. Despite all this, there is still no consensus on what constitutes true intervertebral disc degeneration or how to distinguish between physiological aging, healing, growth, or adaptive remodeling. Spinal aging and symptomatic spinal degeneration are two processes that go hand in hand. They are difficult to distinguish from each other. Studies on physiologic aging and the timing of the onset of biochemical changes associated with aging will contribute to the diagnosis and treatment of symptomatic degenerative spinal diseases. Although degeneration is directly related to age, a significant proportion of degeneration occurs in asymptomatic individuals. Therefore, the relationship between painful conditions and asymptomatic degeneration and pure aging-related changes is clinically difficult to differentiate. In this chapter, imaging findings of degenerative diseases of the spine, classification of degeneration types according to their location and frequency, and pathologies commonly encountered in daily practice will be presented.