Clinical features of spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma / Journal of Rural Medicine

Objective: Spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma is rare and therefore difficult to diagnose. This study evaluated the clinical features of this condition in patients admitted to our hospital.Patients and Methods: We evaluated 12 patients with spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma who were treated at our hospital. We investigated the following variables in these patients: underlying diseases, medications used, initial symptoms, spinal level affected, whether transported to the hospital by ambulance, department where first evaluated, mass lesion on computed tomography with soft tissue window settings, time interval between symptom onset and diagnosis, treatment received, and Frankel classification on arrival and when last observed.Results: Five patients reported the use of antiplatelet or anticoagulant drugs. All patients in this study reported acute onset of severe pain as the initial symptom, and 10 patients reported some degree of paralysis accompanying the pain. With respect to the morbidity level, the cervical region was the most common site of involvement (n=7). Ten patients were transported to the hospital at night via ambulance. Five patients first visited the Department of Internal Medicine. Seven patients presented with a mass lesion on computed tomography with soft tissue window settings. The time interval between symptom onset and diagnosis ranged from 2 hours to 6 days. Three and 9 patients received conservative and surgical treatments, respectively. No patient showed worsening of Frankel classification.Conclusion: Acute onset of severe pain was the most characteristic clinical symptom. Spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma should be included in the differential diagnosis. Computed tomography with soft tissue window settings may rule out cerebrovascular disease and cardiovascular disease, and specifically detect a hematoma. Subsequent magnetic resonance imaging can diagnose a spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma at an early stage.

Spontaneous Epidural Hematoma of the Cervical Spine Mimicking a Cerebrovascular Accident: A Case Report

Objective The present study is a case report of a 57-year-old female with controlled hypertension who presented with spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma (SSEH) mimicking a cerebrovascular accident (CVA) and was successfully treated by surgical decompression. Methods A 57-year-old woman with a medical history of hypertension presented with a sudden onset of weakness in the right upper and lower extremities. Weakness of grade 3/5 was noted in her right upper and lower extremities, but there was no motor weakness of the right facial muscles. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam of the cervical spine revealed an epidural hematoma extending from level C5 to level C7, causing spinal cord compression. Results During surgery, a cervical spinal epidural hematoma (SEH) was evacuated. Postoperatively, the power in both limbs improved to grade 5/5 just after surgery. Conclusions A high degree of suspicion, meticulous history taking, and physical examination have a great importance in these rare conditions because anticoagulant therapy as a routine treatment for ischemic CVA could be life-threatening.

Risk Factors and Postoperative Prognostic Factors of Spontaneous Spinal Epidural Hematoma

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study. OBJECTIVES: To explore the risk factors and the factors associated with the neurological improvement after operation in the spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma. SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW: The cause of the spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma is unknown. The objective risk and prognostic factors are still controversial. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From January 2006 to December 2014, a total of 12 patients with spontaneous epidural hematoma were evaluated. The risk and prognostic factors analyzed were sex, age, underlying diseases, medications, neurologic status, level and extent of hematoma, cord edema, and interval from onset to surgery. We analyzed the correlation between each factor and neurologic recovery. The neurologic status was analyzed using the American Spinal Injury Association impairment scale (AIS) at the first and the last neurologic examination. RESULTS: The average age of the patients was 68.6 years. Seven patients were treated with anticoagulation therapy, and two were advised to switch to a healthier diet. The initial neurologic status of the patients was AIS A in 2 cases, B in 5 cases, C in 4 cases, D in 1 case, and in two patients, cord edema was revealed on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The interval of time from onset to surgery was less than 24 hours in 6 cases, 24-48 hours in 4 cases, and more than 48 hours in 2 cases. CONCLUSIONS: The prognostic factors associated with spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma were found to be initial neurologic status, cord edema on MRI, and interval from onset to surgery. We found no correlation between anticoagulation therapy or healthy diet and spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma, but anticoagulation therapy cannot be excluded as a risk factor.

Spontaneous Spinal Epidural Hematoma on the Ventral Portion of Whole Spinal Canal: A Case Report

Spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma is an uncommon but disabling disease. This paper reports a case of spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma and treatment by surgical management. A 32-year-old male presented with a 30-minute history of sudden headache, back pain, chest pain, and progressive quadriplegia. Whole-spinal sagittal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed spinal epidural hematoma on the ventral portion of the spinal canal. Total laminectomy from T5 to T7 was performed, and hematoma located at the ventral portion of the spinal cord was evacuated. Epidural drainages were inserted in the upper and lower epidural spaces. The patient improved sufficiently to ambulate, and paresthesia was fully recovered. Spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma should be considered when patients present symptoms of spinal cord compression after sudden back pain or chest pain. To prevent permanent neurologic deficits, early and correct diagnosis with timely surgical management is necessary.

A Case of Spontaneous Spinal Epidural Hematoma Misidentified as a Middle Cerebral Artery Infarction

Spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma (SSEH) is an uncommon cause of spinal cord compression. Early diagnosis and appropriate management are important, however, diagnosis is often difficult due to variable neurologic deficit. We report on the case of a 69-year-old female patient in right hemiparesis. She was treated with thrombolysis therapy for acute cerebral infarction before being transferred to our hospital. Findings on a cervical spine magnetic resonance image showed spinal epidural hematoma and cord compression. She was prepared to undergo decompressive surgery, however, neurologic deficits began to show improvement. She was managed conservatively and was discharged without deficits approximately nine days after onset.

Acute spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma: A report of two cases

A spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma (SSEH) is a rare disease that accompanies severe axial pain in the spine with various levels of paralysis depending on the location of the hematoma. A SSEH is mainly caused by a coagulating disorder or anticoagulants medication, while certain cases relate this disease with spinal inflammatory conditions. The early diagnosis of a SSEH is important for its treatment. Most cases with neurologic symptoms can be treated with an immediate laminectomy and decompression. If the neurologic symptom improves within 12 hours, a conservative treatment is effective; however few cases have been reported. We report this case with a review of the relevant literature.

Spontaneous Spinal Epidural Hematoma in a Patient on Cilostazol / 대한뇌졸중학회지

Cilostazol is a phosphodiesterase inhibitor that has been shown to have similar efficacy in stroke prevention but fewer hemorrhagic events compared with aspirin. We report a case of spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma (SSEH) in a 67-year-old woman who has been treated with cilostazol for cerebral infarction. The patient was presented with sudden neck pain and right hemiparesis. Thirteen days after the onset, she recovered completely. Even cilostazol, which is a relatively safer drug in terms of bleeding risk compared to other antiplatelet agents, may cause SSEH. Therefore, physicians should keep in mind rare, but potentially fatal, bleeding complications such as SSEH when prescribing antiplatelet agents.

Rapid Spontaneous Resolution of Idiopathic Cervico-thoracic Ventral Epidural Hematoma

Spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma (SSEH) has been rarely reported in the literature. Prompt surgical intervention is recommended for patients with neurologic deficit. However. in rare cases, spontaneous resolution of the SSEH with recovery of the neurological deficit has also been reported. We report a case of SSEH in a 55-year-old woman with a rapidly progressing neurological deficit. Her neurological deficits gradually improved sponta- neously during preoperative evaluation. Serial magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) demonstrated disappearance of the hematoma. Since her neurological status improved within a few hours, we recommended conservative care. Patients initially presenting with severe neurologic dysfunction are potential candidates for conservative management if they demonstrate rapid and progressive improvement in neurologic function. Thus, immediate surgical decompression may not be necessary if neuroimaging and clinical examinations suggest that spinal epidural hematoma will spontaneously resolve.

Surgical Treatment of Spontaneous Spinal Epidural Hematoma: A Case Report / 대한척추외과학회지

Spontaneous spinal epidural hematomas without any risk factors, such as spinal tap, trauma, pregnancy, bleeding diathesis, vascular malformations, hypertension, etc. are relatively rare clinical entities. In addition, the clinical suspicion is quite difficult because there are various clinical symptoms according to the size and location of hematoma. However, the speed of diagnosis and initiation of the appropriate treatment are important because the outcome for patients is usually determined by the location and degree of neurological deficits and the duration of dural compression. We report the diagnosis and treatment of spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma in this case with a review of the relevant literature.

Spontaneous Spinal Epidural Hematoma of the Thoracic Spine in Young Adult: A Case Report / 대한척추외과학회지

A spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma (SSEH) of the thoracic spine is a rare space-occupying disease that accompanied with severe axial pain in the spine. Because there is the possibility of a significant neurological injury such as paraplegia, SSEH requires careful diagnosis and management. A SSEH is mainly caused by a coagulating disorder or anticoagulant medication, while certain cases have shown that this disease is related with spinal inflammatory conditions. A SSEH tends to occur in patients who have risk factors for hemorrhage. However, the incidence of SSEH is quite low, and there are few domestic reports of a SSEH in young adults who are without the risk factors for hemorrhage. We encountered a 25 years old young male without a prior significant medical history and he was suffering from severe back pain and paraplegia due to a SSEH at the thoracic spine. The early diagnosis was made via MRI. We report here on a favorable clinical outcome that was achieved with immediate operative treatment, and we include a review of the relevant literature.

Conservative Treatment of Spontaneous Spinal Epidural Hematoma: A Case Report / 대한척추외과학회지

A spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma (SSEH) is a rare disease that accompanies severe axial pain in the spine with various levels of paralysis depending on the location of the hematoma. A SSEH is mainly caused by a coagulating disorder or anticoagulants medication, while certain cases relate this disease with spinal inflammatory conditions. The early diagnosis of a SSEH is important for its treatment. Most cases with neurologic symptoms can be treated with a immediate laminectomy and decompression. If the neurologic symptoms improves within 12 hours, a conservative treatment is effective, however few cases have been reported. We encountered a 59 years old male without a prior medical history suffering from severe back pain and paraplegia due to a SSEH at thoracic vertebrae. The patient was successfully treated conservatively. We report this case with a review of the relevant literature.

Spontaneous Spinal Epidural Hematoma

The spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma is rare, but the severe and permanent motor disability underlines its importance. The clinical picture begins with a local spinal and radicular pain but some hours or days later progressive neurologic symptoms develop. The standard treatment for spinal epidural hematoma has been a prompt surgical evacuation. We reported two cases of spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma which had no underlining conditions. The neurological deficit progressed to complete paraplegia despite of an early operation in one case of hematoma located in T2, 3 level, whereas another case in T10 to L2 level showed complete paraplegia at the initial evaluation but good functional recovery after the operation. The outcomes seemed to be dependent mainly on the location of hematoma in the spinal cord. So early diagnosis and prompt surgical treatment are critical to the patient with hematoma located in the upper thoracic level and progressive neurological deficit.

Spontaneous Resolution of Spinal Epidural Hematoma

Spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma is an uncommon cause of acute non-traumatic myelopathy and usually requires surgical evacuation. The typical clinical presentation is that of sudden and severe neck or back pain followed by progressive motor, sensory, and sphincteric disturbances within minutes to hours. Although many cases are idio-pathic, common causes include anticoagulant therapy, coagulopathies, hypertension, and vascular malformations. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become the primary method for diagnosis and follow-up. Prompt neurosurgical treatment with decompressive laminectomy has been regarded as the general method for neurological recovery, although rare cases of spontaneous recovery have been reported. We report such a case of spontaneous cervical spinal epidural hematoma that showed complete spontaneous resolution.

Spontaneous Spinal Epidural Hematoma Mimicking Lumbar Disc Herniation

We experienced 5 surgically confirmed cases of spontaneous lumbosacral spinal epidural hematoma. There was no history of major trauma to the lumbar spine, anticoagulant use, or coagulopathy except repeated minor trauma. The clinical findings in spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma were identical to those in acute disc herniation. These cases were combined with diffuse disc bulging and located in one level of intervertebral segment. Etiologic factors, the clinical findings, bleeding source of lumbo-sacral spontaneous epidural hematoma are stressed with review of patient literature.

Spontaneous Spinal Epidural Hematoma Associated with the Ossification of Ligamentum Flavum of the Thoracic Spine

Spontaneous Spinal Epidural Hematoma has been reported to be associated with vascular malformations, tumors, infections, pregnancy, ankylosing spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis, artherosclerosis, and hypertension. Approximately half of the cases, however, have no apparent cause. The most widely accepted hypothesis of the source of bleeding is that epidural veins are torn by the variations of abdominal or thoracic pressure. The normal hemodynamic fluctuations during usual daily activities are not, however, enough to explain the rare incidence of the spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma, requiring further consideration of the pathogenic factors. The author experienced a case of spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma associated with the ossification of the ligamentum flavum at the lower portion of the hematoma. Venous bleeding from distended epidural veins was observed at the lateral sides of the dural sac after removal of the hematoma. In addition, no vascular malformation was not found in the operative field. Consequently, the auther cautiously suggests that the ossification of the ligamentum flavum may have resulted in the formation of an abnormally dilated vein which ultimately caused bleeding in the patient.

Spontaneous Spinal Epidural Hematoma

The authors reviewed 16 cases of spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma(SSEH) described in the Journal of the Korean Neurosurgical Society and one case unpublished case of our own. Attention was focused on sex,age, medical history, position and vertebral level of the hematoma, preoperative neurological condition and operative result. This study comprised 17 patients, 14 males and 3 females, between five and 79 years old. All vertebral segments were affected, though the thoracic area predominated. In 13 patients, sensory and/or motor deficit was incomplete and in four, SSEH resulted in complete preoperative sensory and motor loss. In all patients, the hematomas were removed surgically through total laminectomy. In four, postoperative recovery was total, but in ten, was incomplete, and the neurological condition of three showed no improvement. We concluded that in cases of SSEH, this operation is the treatment of choice.

Two Cases of Spontaneous Extradural Hematoma on the Lumbar Spine: Comparison of the Operative Results by the Delay Before Surgery

Two surgically treated cases of spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma are reported. We compared the operative results between these cases, and could conclude without difficulty the early diagnosis and operation were important in prognosis. A patient who had endured shorter interval, around 24 hours, between the beginning of paraplegia and surgical decompression recovered earlier, not longer than one month, than the other patient who had been operated on with five days of interval. This patient did not recover well even two months after the operation.

Spontaneous Spinal Epidural Hematoma: Report of Two Operative Cases

Spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma is a rare disease. Typically, a healthy man engaging in usual activity of daily life develops back or neck pain suddenly and most victims are unable to walk within 6 hours. We treated two cases of spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma surgically. On case developed hematoma in the thoracolumbar junction in a adult man, and the cause of hematoma could not be confirmed with surgery. Another case developed hematoma in the midthoracic area in a boy, and the source of bleeding was confirmed as arteriovenous malformation in spinal epidural fat tissue. Related literatures were reviewed.