Presentation
Low back pain radiating to the right lower limb.
Patient Data
Small well-defined ovoid lesion in the right lateral recess of L5-S1 of extradural location compressing the adjacent S1 nerve root. It shows a thick hypointense wall on both T1 and T2 (most likely a calcified wall) with inhomogeneous hyperintense content on T2. Degenerative change mainly of the adjacent right facet joint.
Lumbar disc disease with mild disc bulge at several levels.
Case Discussion
Spinal synovial cysts, aka lumbar extradural cysts, juxtafacet cysts or spinal ganglion cysts, are cystic formations connected to the facet joint and containing synovial fluid and usually result in lumbar radiculopathy.
Usually asymptomatic and discovered incidentally. larger cysts may cause stenosis of the spinal canal +/- compression of the adjacent neural structures.