CT-guided needle aspiration biopsy of an intraspinal synovial cyst (ganglion): case report and review of the literature.

Ganglions (synovial cysts) are cystic or semicystic lesions found most commonly in the wrist, dorsum of the foot, or knee. They mayor may not be continuous with the joint space and mayor may not have a synovial lining [1]. Some authors make a distinction between gang I ions and synovial cysts, the latter being synovial-lined. Recently, several studies have reported the identification of synovial cysts in the spinal canal in relation to the facet joints. A review of the literature reveals a total of 17 cases previously reported (Table 1). Ten of these were surgically proved [2, 4-7] , eight were evaluated by CT [6-8], and only two were evaluated by CT and subsequently proved at surgery [6, 7]. We report the first CT-guided needle aspiration biopsy of an intraspinal synovial cyst. This was subsequently proved at surgery.