Herniation of the lumbar disk in adolescents.

The authors review eight cases of lumbar intervertebral disk herniation in adolescents aged less than 16 years, with a minimum follow-up treatment of 2 years during an 18-year period. All patients presented lower back and sciatic pain, antalgic scoliosis, and a positive Lasègue sign. Nerve compression signs were present in 25+ of the cases. Seventy-five percent of the cases underwent myelography and 25% underwent computerized axial tomography. Results were good in all cases.

[Magnetic resonance of spinal osteoid osteoma]. / Ressonância magnética do osteoma osteóide vertebral.

The authors report one case of spinal osteoid osteoma localized in the thoracic spine that was imaged through M. R. I. They report the M. R. I. aspects of the tumor. Precise localization is necessary for the correct surgical approach.

[Traumatic spondylolysis]. / Espondilolise traumática.

The authors present the results of treatment of seven cases of spondylolysis with a two years follow up. Six patients were treated with the thoracolumbosacral orthosis and one with L5-S1 fusion. At the end of the follow up all patients were pain free.

MR imaging of dislocation of the posterior tibial tendon.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article is to describe the MR imaging appearance of seven cases of posterior tibial tendon dislocation and subluxation. CONCLUSION: Posterior tibial tendon dislocation is a rare but important entity usually related to a previous traumatic event. The clinical diagnosis is often missed because of its rarity. MR imaging provides important clues to the diagnosis and preoperative evaluation of this condition.

Vascular lesions of the lumbar epidural space: magnetic resonance imaging features of epidural cavernous hemangioma and epidural hematoma.

The authors report the magnetic resonance imaging diagnostic features in two cases with respectively lumbar epidural hematoma and cavernous hemangioma of the lumbar epidural space. Enhanced MRI T1-weighted scans show a hyperintense signal rim surrounding the vascular lesion. Non-enhanced T2-weighted scnas showed hyperintense signal.

Wilson's disease: MRI with clinical correlation.

We tried to establish possible correlations between clinical data and MRI in a group of patients with Wilson's disease. Eleven patients (6 male, 5 female), aged between 11 and 50 years old, with a duration of illness from 5 months to 32 years, were submitted to MRI on a 1.5 T System. Three patients were asymptomatic, two had mild neurological disturbances, two were moderately affected and the remaining four had a severe form of the disease. All were receiving D-penicillamine at the time of the study. In the most symptomatic patients there were abnormalities in five or more sites on MRI. The putamen was affected in all symptomatic patients, including five with dystonia. A striking feature was the peripheral location of high signal putaminal lesions on T2-weighted images. In five cases, lesions in the corpus striatum or substantia nigra explained the patient's Parkinsonian features. MRI is an efficient method for studying involvement of the central nervous system in Wilson's disease, and allows some interesting anatomoclinical correlations.