Objective To compare and analyze the application value of MRI and CT in diagnosing lumbar disc herniation（LDH） and to analyze the imaging characteristics of patients with LDH.Methods Fifty patients with LDH who attended a hospital in Henan Province from January 2018 to January 2021 were selected as the study subjects.Another 50 patients with other lumbar diseases with similar symptoms to LDH were selected as controls during the same period.All patients received preoperative MRI and CT scans.To compare the diagnostic accordance rate

sensitivity and specificity of MRI and CT for the diagnosis of LDH

with pathological findings as the gold standard.To establish receiver operating characteristic（ROC） curves and calculate the area under curve（AUC） of ROC for the diagnosis of LDH by MRI and CT;to compare MRI and CT imaging signs in patients with LDH.Results The accordance rate of MRI for LDH diagnosis was 90.00%（90/100）

sensitivity 88.00%（44/50）

and specificity 92.00%（46/50）

and the accordance rate of CT for LDH diagnosis was 88.00%（88/100）

sensitivity 86.00%（43/50）

and specificity 90.00%（45/50）.The accordance rates of MRI and CT in the diagnosis of LDH were consistent（Kappa=0.75

P<0.05）.ROC showed that the efficacy of MRI in diagnosing LDH（95% CI:0.872-0.936;AUC:0.893） was higher than that of CT（95% CI:0.863-0.931;AUC:0.842）.MRI was more accurate than CT in diagnosing signs such as spinal deformation and dural sac compression

and less accurate than CT in diagnosing signs such as intervertebral disc pneumatosis

and the differences were statistically significant（P <0.05）.Conclusion The overall consistency between MRI and CT for the diagnosis of LDH was good

and each had its own advantages.MRI was better than CT in visualizing spinal deformation and dural sac compression

while it was less effective than CT in visualizing intervertebral disc pneumatosis.Therefore

the examination should be clinically chosen in accordance with the actual condition of the patient

and combined with other auxiliary diagnoses to improve the diagnostic accuracy rate.