[Clinical and diagnostic characteristics of T1 root syndrome].

Background: Among radicular lesions, those affecting the T1 root are rare. Together with the similarity of symptoms to C8 syndrome, which is more common, this makes the diagnosis of T1 radiculopathy complicated. The clinical and diagnostic specifics of T1 syndrome are shown here based on three cases.

Materials And Results: We report on three patients with T1 syndrome. Clinical diagnostics (clinical investigation, electrophysiology, MRI) showed in two cases lateral intraforaminal disc herniae at the T1-2 level, and the third patient had metastasis of a cervix carcinoma being responsible for the radiculopathy. In all cases surgery was performed. The patients with disc herniae were immediately pain-free after surgery; in the third patient the neurological symptoms and pain clearly improved.

Conclusions: These three cases show that by thorough analysis of clinical symptoms and functional (electrophysiology) and morphological (MRI) diagnostics, T1 radiculopathy can be differentiated from C8 lesions. All of the patients benefited from decompressive surgery.