Wegweisende MR-tomographische Befunde bei lumbaler Polyradikulopathie

We describe three patients of polyradiculopathy who on lumbar MRI presented the trias of thickening of nerve roots, spreading of root interspaces and linear contrast-enhanced deposits on nerve roots. A leptomeningeal lymphoma and tuberculous arachnoiditis, respectively, were diagnosed by cerebrospinal fluid examination. In the third patient the diagnosis of meningeal carcinomatosis originating from an epithelial breast tumour was made by a MRI-guided biopsy. Gd-diethylentriamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA) -enhanced MRI demonstrated inflammatory and tumorous lesions of the cauda equina.