MRI of Conus Medullaris, Cauda Equina, and Filum Terminale Lesions Rami Eldaya, MD, MBA, Omar Eissa, MD, Gabriel Calles, MD, Jorge Lee-Diaz, MD, and Tomas Uribe, MD
Volume 39 • Number 24 November 30, 2016 MRI of Conus Medullaris, Cauda Equina, and Filum Terminale Lesions Rami Eldaya, MD, MBA, Omar Eissa, MD, Gabriel Calles, MD, Jorge Lee-Diaz, MD, and Tomas Uribe, MD After participating in this educational activity, the radiologist should be better able to diagnose conus medullaris, cauda equina, and fi lum terminale lesions on MRI. Category: Neuroradiology Finally, the fi lum terminale, which is a fi ne strand of fi brous Modality: MRI tissue embedded in the cauda equina, is formed by a prolon- gation of the pia, and it extends from the conus medullaris to the termination of the thecal sac at the inferior border of S2. Key Words: Cauda Equina, Filum Terminale, Spinal Nerve Roots, Conus Medullaris Imaging Consideration Cauda equina is the Latin name for horse’s tail because The best way to assess the cauda equina is with MRI of the cauda equina resembles a horse tail. The cauda equina the lumbar spine with and without contrast medium. High- is a set of 10 paired dorsal and ventral nerve roots (20 nerve fi eld strength MR magnets (≥1.5 T) allow evaluation of the roots in total), corresponding to four lumbar (second to fi fth), nerves, their size, enhancement, and involvement by a path- fi ve sacral, and one coccygeal segments that originate from ologic process. the conus medullaris. These nerve roots are contained by the Pathology of the cauda equina can arise from a nerve root, thecal sac, which is an enclosed space formed by dura mater pia mater, or arachnoid space.
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