[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.
Hasni Bouraoui
I
I
Service d'Imagerie Médicale, CHU Sahloul, Sousse 4000, Tunisie. ibtissemhasni@yahoo.fr
Gamoun
W
W
Mrad Dali
K
K
Boughammoura
H
H
Hmila
S
S
Arifa
N
N
Ksira
I
I
Mazhoud
J
J
Jemni
H
H
Tlili Graies
K
K
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