DDD can cause mild to severe pain, either acute or chronic, near the involved disc, as well as neuropathic pain if an adjacent spinal nerve root is involved. Diagnosis is suspected when typical symptoms and physical findings are present; and confirmed by x-rays of the vertebral column. Occasionally the radiologic diagnosis of "disc degeneration" is made incidentally when a cervical x-ray, chest x-ray, or abdominal x-ray is taken for other reasons, and the abnormalities of the vertebral column are recognized. The diagnosis of DDD is not a radiologic diagnosis, since the interpreting radiologist is not aware whether there are symptoms present or not. Typical radiographic findings include disc space narrowing, displacement of vertebral bodies, fusion of adjacent vertebral bodies, and development of bone in adjacent soft tissue (osteophyte formation). An MRI is typically reserved for those with symptoms, signs, and x-ray findings suggesting the need for surgical intervention.