[Pneumorachis: report of three rare causes].
The presence of gas in the spinal canal or pneumorachis is a rare imaging finding, typically incidental. Pneumorachis may be due to several degenerative, traumatic, infectious, tumoral or iatrogenic etiologies. We report three cases of pneumorachis in patients with lumbar back pain. A case occurred in a patient with advanced degenerative disk disease. Another was in a patient with posterior facet synovial cyst. The last was in a patient with locally advanced rectal carcinoma complicated by perforation. Pneumorachis was detected on MRI in two cases and on CT in all three cases.
Service d'Imagerie Médicale, CHU Sahloul, Sousse 4000, Tunisie. ibtissemhasni@yahoo.fr
I
I
Hasni Bouraoui
W
W
Gamoun
K
K
Mrad Dali
H
H
Boughammoura
S
S
Hmila
N
N
Arifa
I
I
Ksira
J
J
Mazhoud
H
H
Jemni
K
K
Tlili Graies
D002277:Carcinoma / Q000150:complications; D004646:Emphysema / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D055959:Intervertebral Disc Degeneration / Q000150:complications; D007416:Intestinal Perforation / Q000150:complications; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000209:etiology; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012002:Rectal Diseases / Q000150:complications; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000150:complications; D013115:Spinal Canal / Q000473:pathology*; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D013581:Synovial Cyst / Q000150:complications; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed