Spinal Epidural Lipoma: Report of a Case and Review of the Literature

We report a case of a 43-year-old male patient presenting with low back pain and neurological deficits of right lower extremity, who was diagnosed and surgically treated. A search using Medline database is conducted and 6 other patients in the literature are found. Common symptoms included sciatica, motor weakness, and sensation loss. Most cases involved the lumbar region. Only 1 case was in the cervical cord (C5-C6). Conservative treatments failed in all cases. All cases performed mass extirpation through laminectomy or laminae fenestration. Prognoses were good in general. Spinal epidural lipoma is rare but should not be neglected. It can worsen the situation when accompanied with trauma. We suggest that surgeries should be carried out in symptomatic patients. More research attention should be paid in the etiology and histology of this disease in the future.
Source: Neurosurgery Quarterly - Category: Neurosurgery Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research