Intraspinal cysts are rarely observed in patients. They are distinguished from neoplasm using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT) because they rarely cause bony erosive changes. We treated three cases of intraspinal cysts causing bony erosion.
Patients ranged from fifty-five to seventy-one years, and symptoms and signs resembled disc herniation. Signal-intensity patterns and pathological finding of these lesions were variable. They were adjacent to degenerated facet joints. Treatment involved surgical excision of the cysts.
Many lumbar intraspinal cysts may be associated with significantly degenerated facet joints. Bleeding into or around the cysts may invade the vertebral body.
