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Prevalence of thoracic spine lesions masquerading as cauda equina syndrome: yield of a novel magnetic resonance imaging protocol

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Abstract

Our objective was to describe the yield of actionable thoracic spine lesions for a novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocol including evaluation of the thoracic spine among patients presenting to the Emergency Department (ED) with symptoms consistent with epidural compression syndrome. Our ED and Department of Radiology together designed a novel rapid MRI protocol entailing 3D volumetric T2 weighted sequences through both the thoracic and lumbar spine obtained in the sagittal plane to assess for both lumbar and thoracic spine lesions. We recorded study outcomes for all patients undergoing this protocol or conventional lumbar MRI during May 2014–May 2015 to determine the prevalence of actionable thoracic spine lesions. We defined an actionable thoracic lesion as any pathology requiring treatment (e.g., medication, admission, surgery) not otherwise indicated on the basis of lumbar spine findings. During the study period, 112 of 124 (90.3%) of ED patients undergoing MRI evaluation for epidural compression syndrome underwent the novel protocol. The remaining patients underwent evaluation of the lumbar spine using only a conventional MRI protocol. Of the 112 patients undergoing the novel protocol, 6 (5.4%) patients had thoracic spine lesions indicating therapy not otherwise indicated by lumbar spine findings. The etiologies of these six lesions were: neoplasms (2), de-myelination (2), compression fracture (1), and degeneration due to pernicious anemia (1). Emergency providers should strongly consider the routine use of MRI protocols including thoracic spine evaluation in patients presenting to the ED with symptoms consistent with epidural compression syndrome.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Emergency Medicine, San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium, SAMMC, MCHE-EMR, 3551 Roger Brooke Dr, JBSA, Fort Sam Houston, TX, 78234-6200, USA

    Katherine Stolper, Kathleen Michelle Samsey & Michael David April

  2. Department of Radiology, San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium, Fort Sam Houston, USA

    James Clark Haug & Chad Todd Christensen

Authors
  1. Katherine Stolper
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  2. James Clark Haug
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  3. Chad Todd Christensen
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  4. Kathleen Michelle Samsey
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  5. Michael David April
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Correspondence to Michael David April.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Statement of human and animal rights

We conducted this study under a protocol reviewed and approved by the Brooke Army Medical Center Institutional Review Board in accordance with the relevant research regulations. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1954 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Stolper, K., Haug, J.C., Christensen, C.T. et al. Prevalence of thoracic spine lesions masquerading as cauda equina syndrome: yield of a novel magnetic resonance imaging protocol. Intern Emerg Med 12, 1259–1264 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11739-016-1565-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11739-016-1565-9

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