Effects of chemonucleolysis demonstrated by MR imaging.

In a study designed to assess the diagnostic and prognostic usefulness of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in patients to be treated with chymopapain, 39 patients with a clinicoradiographic picture of herniated lumbar disk were scanned. Twenty-one of these, who were actually treated, were rescanned 3 months following the intradiskal administration of chymopapain. In both pretreatment and posttreatment scans sagittal T1 and T2 weighted spinecho technique was used.