Branislav Veselý, Katarína Kročková, Daša Viszlayová, Monika Virágová, Marta Miklošková, Agáta Frišová, Renáta Felediová, Andrea Petrovičová, Gabriel Hajaš, Slavomíra Kováčová
The authors present case reports of patients admitted to our clinic who suffered from low back pain. The pain was the first sign of dangerous disease long time before the illness was presented with typical symptoms. The first case is a 56-year-old woman with rheumatoid arthritis, who was admitted to the hospital for low back pain with duration for several months. Transthoracal echocardiography revealed infectious endocarditis which was the cause of septic emboli to backbone and spondylodiscitis. The second case is a 70-year-old woman with sudden onset of low back pain with irradiation to the left lower extremity. At the admission she was without fever and meningeal signs. During hospitalization there was marked clinical deterioration. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed an epidural empyema in segments L1-5. The last case is a 71-year-old woman with pain in thoracic region of backbone. She was without any signs of cancer. MRI displayed metastasis in the 6th-8th vertebra with the expansion to the spinal canal.