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Lumbar juxtafacet cyst

Case contributed by Roberto Schubert
Diagnosis certain

Presentation

Chronic back pain. Sharp pain radiating to the right leg.

Patient Data

Age: 50 years
Gender: Female
mri

Intraspinal extradural cyst with a rather thick, T1-hypointense capsule and somewhat inhomogeneous content. Marked displacement of the thecal sac and cauda roots. Degenerative disease of the discs and facet joints L4/5/S1 which also show some effusion. Lumbarization of the 1st sacral vertebra.

Case Discussion

Cyst or ganglia of the facet joints are well known, albeit rare. Typically, they are only one aspect of chronic degenerative lumbar spinal disease. If protruding into the spinal canal or an intervertebral foramen, they may cause symptoms similar to a disc hernia. MRI is the method of choice for their detection 1.

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