Study design: Two case reports of sciatica that was considered to be caused by cervical and thoracic spinal cord compression.
Objectives: To point out that sciatica can be an initial major symptom in patients with cervical or thoracic spinal cord lesions.
Summary of background data: Usually, tract pain caused by cord compression is considered to be diffuse and does not resemble sciatica.
Methods: Medical history, physical findings, and the results of imaging studies were reviewed in one case of cervical cord tumor and one case of thoracic kyphosis.
Results: In both cases, sciatica was the initial and major symptom. Imaging studies showed no lesion in the lumbar spine. In one patient, a cervical dumbbell tumor was found to compress the cervical cord, and in the other the spinal cord was severely compressed at the thoracic kyphosis. The sciatica disappeared immediately after decompression surgery in both cases.
Conclusions: Leg pain resembling sciatica can be caused by cord compression at the cervical and thoracic level. Thoracic kyphosis may be a causative factor in sciatica, in addition to spinal cord tumor and disc herniation, which have been reported previously.