[Decimeter radiothermometry in neurologic manifestations of lumbar osteochondrosis].

Using radiothermometry, a new noninvasive method based on recording the thermoradiation of tissues, the authors studied the in-depth temperature of tissues in 106 patients with lumbar osteochondrosis. A radiothermometer adjusted to a wave length of 30 cm was utilized. The accuracy of measurements was +/- 0.1 degree C. The findings showed an elevation of the in-depth temperature of lumbar tissues by 0.3 degree C as compared with the temperature of the mid-thoracic portion of the vertebral column. The elevation was maximal at the site of the involved intervertebral disc imaging. In the tissue of the leg on the side of pain the in depth temperature was 0.4-0.6 degrees C lower. The authors consider that temperature elevation in the lumbar tissue of the vertebral column is a manifestation of the attendant reactive inflammatory process while a decrease in the temperature of tissue on the side of pain is due to the neurodystrophic process with thermal disturbances. Decimetric radiothemometry may be used for the preoperative localization of intervertebral disk hernias.