Abstract
Study design:
A case report and a review of literature.
Objectives:
To present the first youngest infant of a 4-month-old boy with spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma in cervicothoracic spine.
Setting:
National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan.
Methods:
A 4-month-old boy who initially presented with irritable crying, neck stiffness, and fever followed by progressive quadriparesis. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the spine disclosed a space-occupying lesion on the right posterior–lateral aspect of the cervicothoracic spinal canal. Laminectomy with reconstruction in situ from C4 to T4 was performed 5 days after the onset of symptoms.
Results:
The boy had gradual improvement of his neurological status. Follow-up visit 1 year later, the infant's growth and development was within normal limit without any neurological deficits; his repeat MRI showed complete fusion of each implanted lamina and well expansion of the spinal cord.
Conclusions:
Prompt surgical decompression is valuable, irrespective of the time interval between symptom onset and operation in infant.
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Lee, JS., Yu, CY., Huang, KC. et al. Spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma in a 4-month-old infant. Spinal Cord 45, 586–590 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.sc.3101976
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.sc.3101976
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