Conjoined lumbosacral nerve roots (CLNR) are the most common anomalies involving the lumbar nerve structures which can be one of the origins of failed back syndromes. They can cause sciatica even without the presence of a additional compressive impingement (such as disc herniation, spondylolisthesis or lateral recess stenosis), and often congenital lumbosacral spine anomalies (such as bony defects) are present at the "conjoined sheaths". This congenital anomaly has been reported in 14\% of cadaver studies, but myelographic or computed tomographic studies have revealed an incidence of approximately 4\% only. Diagnostic methods such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are helpful for determination of the exact anatomical relations in this context. We present five typical cases of conjoined nerve roots observed during a 1 year period, equivalent to 6\% of our out-patients without a history of surgical treatment on the lumbar spine. In all cases with suspicious radiological findings MRI or lumbar myelography combined with CT and multiplanar reconstructions is recommended.
Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Bachstrasse 18, 07740, Jena, Germany. joachim.boettcher\@med.uni-jena.de
%0 Journal Article
%1 Bottcher:EurSpineJ:2004
%A Böttcher, J.
%A Petrovitch, A.
%A Sörös, P.
%A Malich, A.
%A Hussein, S.
%A Kaiser, W. A.
%C Germany
%D 2004
%J Eur Spine J
%K Aged;Lumbosacral Back Disk Displacement;Adolescent Imaging;Myelography;Intervertebral Nerve Pain;Sciatica;Male;Spinal Region;Low Resonance Roots;Magnetic case reports;Humans;Middle
%N 2
%P 147-51
%R 10.1007/s00586-003-0634-8
%T Conjoined lumbosacral nerve roots: current aspects of diagnosis.
%V 13
%X Conjoined lumbosacral nerve roots (CLNR) are the most common anomalies involving the lumbar nerve structures which can be one of the origins of failed back syndromes. They can cause sciatica even without the presence of a additional compressive impingement (such as disc herniation, spondylolisthesis or lateral recess stenosis), and often congenital lumbosacral spine anomalies (such as bony defects) are present at the "conjoined sheaths". This congenital anomaly has been reported in 14\% of cadaver studies, but myelographic or computed tomographic studies have revealed an incidence of approximately 4\% only. Diagnostic methods such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are helpful for determination of the exact anatomical relations in this context. We present five typical cases of conjoined nerve roots observed during a 1 year period, equivalent to 6\% of our out-patients without a history of surgical treatment on the lumbar spine. In all cases with suspicious radiological findings MRI or lumbar myelography combined with CT and multiplanar reconstructions is recommended.
@article{Bottcher:EurSpineJ:2004,
abstract = {Conjoined lumbosacral nerve roots (CLNR) are the most common anomalies involving the lumbar nerve structures which can be one of the origins of failed back syndromes. They can cause sciatica even without the presence of a additional compressive impingement (such as disc herniation, spondylolisthesis or lateral recess stenosis), and often congenital lumbosacral spine anomalies (such as bony defects) are present at the "conjoined sheaths". This congenital anomaly has been reported in 14\% of cadaver studies, but myelographic or computed tomographic studies have revealed an incidence of approximately 4\% only. Diagnostic methods such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are helpful for determination of the exact anatomical relations in this context. We present five typical cases of conjoined nerve roots observed during a 1 year period, equivalent to 6\% of our out-patients without a history of surgical treatment on the lumbar spine. In all cases with suspicious radiological findings MRI or lumbar myelography combined with CT and multiplanar reconstructions is recommended.},
added-at = {2012-04-29T04:45:51.000+0200},
address = {Germany},
author = {Böttcher, J. and Petrovitch, A. and Sörös, P. and Malich, A. and Hussein, S. and Kaiser, W. A.},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/274755c4c4c47d6efc3ea78206fef8a3b/asterix},
doi = {10.1007/s00586-003-0634-8},
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intrahash = {74755c4c4c47d6efc3ea78206fef8a3b},
issn = {0940-6719},
journal = {Eur Spine J},
keywords = {Aged;Lumbosacral Back Disk Displacement;Adolescent Imaging;Myelography;Intervertebral Nerve Pain;Sciatica;Male;Spinal Region;Low Resonance Roots;Magnetic case reports;Humans;Middle},
month = {3},
number = 2,
organization = {Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Bachstrasse 18, 07740, Jena, Germany. joachim.boettcher\@med.uni-jena.de},
pages = {147-51},
publicationstatus = {Published},
pubmedid = {14634853},
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timestamp = {2012-04-29T04:45:53.000+0200},
title = {Conjoined lumbosacral nerve roots: current aspects of diagnosis.},
us_nlm_id = {9301980},
uuid = {53E7ADA3-966D-47A0-8A99-C8E2EA50ABF5},
volume = 13,
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}