Intravertebral Gas Defect

Contrasting natural histories of thoracic spine pneumatocysts: resolutionversusrapid enlargement

“…The aetiology of pneumatocysts is not certain, but it has been proposed that they could occur spontaneously, relate to Schmorl's nodes or relate to degeneration of a cyst or ganglion [1,3,[6][7][8].…”

“…Pneumatocysts were first described by Ramirez et al [1] adjacent to the sacroiliac joint, where they have been commonly described since; however, they are uncommon in the spine. Although there have been previous reports of pneumatocysts in the spine [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15], there are only two reported cases of thoracic pneumatocysts [7,12]. Most vertebral pneumatocysts occur in the cervical spine, with less occurring in the lumbar spine.…”

Vertebral Body Pneumatocysts in the Cervical Spine - A Case Report

“…Seven of the eight cases in the cervical spine occurred in the vertebral body, and one was located [2][3][4] in the lateral mass of the cervical spine. Four cervical pneumatocysts [5] were located in C5 two in C6 and one in C7 [2][3][4][6][7][8][9]. Five of the eight cervical pneumatocysts had no communication with the intervertebral disc or the spinal canal, based on the CT findings [2,5,6,8,9].…”

“…Four cervical pneumatocysts [5] were located in C5 two in C6 and one in C7 [2][3][4][6][7][8][9]. Five of the eight cervical pneumatocysts had no communication with the intervertebral disc or the spinal canal, based on the CT findings [2,5,6,8,9]. Two cervical pneumatocysts had communication with the spinal canal and one case with a degenerated intervertebral disc [3,4,7].…”

“…Although this condition is most frequently observed in the ilium and sacrum adjacent to the sacroiliac joint, a pneumatocyst in the spine is rare [1]. Only twelve reports have been published in the english literature [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Just two reports, however, describe the natural course of this rare condition .…”