Mobile tumours in the lumbar spinal canal: a diagnostic problem

In two cases of mobile tumours in the lumbar spinal canal there was difficulty and delay in clinical and radiologic diagnosis because the early symptoms did not correspond to any particular dermatome. Myelography and computed tomography (CT) are the initial diagnostic procedures used in most institutions, even where magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is available. The purpose of these 2 case reports is to remind clinicians that it is possible for certain tumours attached to the roots in the lumbar spinal canal to migrate, because the roots tend to be redundant or tax. Multilevel search is essential in neuroradiologic studies for early diagnostic confirmation of mobile tumours.