Is Magnetic Resonance Image Alone Sufficient for Detecting Disc Cyst?

ABSTRACT

Disc cyst is an exaggerated form of disc degeneration that requires discography to confirm diagnosis. A case of 25-year-old man with back pain and left thigh numbness is described. A juxtaradicular extradural cyst at the upper lumbar spine, straddled the intervertebral foramen and migrated superiorly, was depicted as a bean-shaped high signal lesion that connected to the corresponding disc via a low signal stalk on T2-weighted magnetic resonance images. Gadolinium-enhanced images showed faint peripheral enhancement. Surgical specimen was histologically confirmed as a pseudocyst and he made a full recovery. We are able to detect a disc cyst with magnetic resonance imaging, particularly Gadolinium-enhanced and sagittal T2-weighted images, which was possible in the past only with invasive discography.