Degenerative lumbar disease is common, costly and one of the most complex conditions to manage. This paper discusses the MR contribution to the diagnosis of intervertebral disc degeneration, malaligment abnormalities, spondylolysis, spinal stenosis and facet disease. The different value of MR images, MR myelography and large FOV imaging will be evaluated. For disc disease and vertebral plate abnormalities, the descriptive terminology and the problems encountered will be analyzed together with their questionable association with the patient`s symptomatology. The value of MR myelography as an adjunct to standard MR sequences will be reviewed, as the evaluation of levels, sides and severity of physical stenosis of the central spinal canal, lateral recesses and neural foramina and emergences. There is a relationship of lumbar and lower-thoracic spine disease, analysed with a large FOV in MR imaging of the lumbar spine. A statistically significant relation is found in the thoracolumbar junctional region, reflecting common pathoanatomical changes. The absence of relation with lower lumbar spine discs is probably due to differences in their pathomechanisms.

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