title: Discal cysts of the lumbar spine: report of five cases and review of the literature.
abstract: Discal cysts are rare causes of low back pain and radiculopathy. Only few reports in the literature describe these pathologies. In this article, the authors report five cases (3 males and 2 females) of lumbar discal cysts treated surgically by microdiscectomy. These patients were admitted with a history of back pain and/or sciatalgia. Magnetic resonance imaging of the lumbar spine of all patients revealed lumbar discal cysts, causing compression to the spinal dura and roots. All patients were treated by partial hemilaminectomy and microscopic cyst resection. Postoperatively, the complaints showed improvement, and the patients were discharged with no complications. The cases of lumbar discal cysts are described in the literature as individual case reports, therefore; the authors performed a wide systemic review of all these cases published in PubMed and MedLine, including the patients in the present report. The data of all patients were analyzed to obtain statistically based estimated information about the incidence, the epidemiology, the natural history and the optimum management of these lesions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, VKV American Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. sabria@amerikanhastanesi.org
authors.forename: Sabri
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aydin
authors.forename: Bashar
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Abuzayed
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yildirim
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bozkus
authors.forename: Metin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vural
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003560:Cysts / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007403:Intervertebral Disc / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D055959:Intervertebral Disc Degeneration / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D007405:Intervertebral Disc Displacement / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged