Acute cauda equina syndrome from a ruptured aneurysm in the sacral canal. Case report

Ruptured isolated spinal artery aneurysms: Case series of five patients and a review of the literature on management strategies

BACKGROUND

Aneurysms of the spinal arteries are rare entities, the majority of which are associated with other vascular lesions, such as spinal vascular malformations. Isolated spinal artery aneurysms (SAAs) are even less frequently encountered, and their incidence is largely unknown, as the literature is limited to case reports and small series. The optimal management strategy for SAAs is not well defined.

OBJECTIVE

To review the institutional experience of five patients with isolated SAAs.

METHODS

Five cases of isolated SAAs were identified at our institution, including two cases with multiple simultaneous SAAs. Clinical presentation, imaging, and management strategies for each case were reviewed. A literature review of all SAAs reported between 1950 and 2020 was performed.

RESULTS

A total of five patients with eight isolated SAAs presented to our institution: one aneurysm was lumbar in location, while the remaining seven were thoracic. Two patients were treated with glue embolization followed by laminectomy for hematoma evacuation; one was treated with only surgery; and the other two, which both had multiple lesions, were managed conservatively with interval complete regression of their aneurysms. All five patients had good neurological outcomes. Literature review found 124 patients with at least 137 isolated SAAs and revealed treatment strategies including conservative management, glue or coil embolization, muslin wrapping, and surgical resection or clipping.

CONCLUSION

Multiple management strategies exist for SAAs, and clinical consideration of patient presentation and lesion morphology determine appropriate strategy. Our case series demonstrates three of these treatment paradigms.

Rupture of a Median Sacral Artery Aneurysm in a Patient with Vascular Ehlers Danlos Syndrome

Introduction

Vascular Ehlers Danlos syndrome is a rare connective tissue disease that is associated with various arterial complications.

Report

A 25 year old man with vascular Ehlers Danlos syndrome presented with acute lower back pain as a result of a ruptured aneurysm of the median sacral artery (MSA). Prior medical history included several vascular events resulting in a right iliac occlusion. The unusual location of aneurysmal disease of the MSA might be explained by extensive collateral flow recruitment due to this occlusion.

Conclusion

Previous vascular events inducing collateral recruitment might justify a more frequent follow up in patients with connective tissue disorders.

Cauda equina syndrome

Questions from patients about pain conditions and analgesic pharmacotherapy and responses from authors are presented to help educate patients and make them more effective self-advocates. The topics addressed in this issue are cauda equina syndrome, a dysfunction of the nerves in the spinal canal, and its symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment.

Spinal aneurysms: clinicoradiological features and management paradigms

Object

Spinal aneurysms (SAs) are rare lesions. The clinicoradiological features and the exact degree of their association with comorbid conditions such as arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) and coarctation of the aorta have not been definitively described. The ideal management paradigm has not been established. The authors reviewed literature to determine the clinical patterns of presentation, management, and outcome of spinal aneurysms.

Methods

A systematic review of literature was performed using 23 separate strings. A total of 10,190 papers were screened to identify 87 papers that met the inclusion criteria. A total of 123 SAs could be included for analysis.

Results

The mean age of patients at presentation was 38 years; 10% of patients were aged less than 10 years and nearly 50% were greater than 38 years. Spinal aneurysms can be divided into 2 groups: those associated with AVMs (SA-AVMs, or Type 1 SAs) and those with isolated aneurysms (iSAs, or Type 2 SAs). Patients with Type 2 SAs were older and more likely to present with bleeding than those with Type 1 SAs. The acute syndromes can be divided into 3 groups of patients: those with spinal syndrome, those with cranial/craniospinal syndrome, and those with nonspecific presentation. Overall, 32.6% presented with angiography-negative cranial subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Presentation with evidence of cord dysfunction (myelopathy/weakness/sensory loss/bladder involvement) correlated with poor outcome, as did presentation with hemorrhage and association with other comorbid conditions. Surgery and endovascular therapy both led to comparable rates of complete aneurysm obliteration for Type 2 SAs, whereas for the AVM-associated Type 1 SAs, surgery led to better rates of lesion obliteration. The authors propose a classification scheme for spinal aneurysms based on whether the lesion is solitary or is associated with a coexistent spinal AVM; this would also imply that the ideal therapy for the aneurysm would differ based on this association.

Conclusions

The clinical and radiological patterns that influence outcome are distinct for Type 1 and Type 2 SAs. The ideal treatment for Type 1 SAs appears to be excision, whereas surgery and endovascular therapy were equally effective for Type 2 SAs.

Lateral Sacral Artery Aneurysm: Case Report and Review of the Literature

OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE:

We report the third case of an aneurysm of the lateral sacral artery (AnLSA). In all cases, because of an incorrect preoperative diagnosis, the surgeons were confronted with severe and unexpected hemorrhaging, and surgery was aborted without effective treatment. Our purpose is to present the preoperative features of AnLSA and its treatment modalities.

CLINICAL PRESENTATION:

A 54-year-old man had a medical history of renal transplantation on his left external iliac artery. He complained of acute lumbar pain associated with cauda equina syndrome, which resolved within a few hours. At that time, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan revealed an intracanal hematoma extending from S1 to T12. Six weeks later, a second MRI scan demonstrated an oval-shaped intracanal mass behind the vertebral body of S1 with intense gadolinium enhancement.

INTERVENTION:

An anterior epidural mass was found. An incision into this mass resulted in significant arterial hemorrhaging. Transparietal embolization with a cotton compress and closure of the aneurysm wall were performed. The postoperative clinical status was stable, and a delayed angiographic study suggested a diagnosis of aneurysm of the right LSA, a branch of the internal iliac artery. Its pathophysiology was explained by the development of a high-flow transpelvic shunt from the right iliac artery territory to the left, to maintain the renal graft blood flow that had initially been reduced by stenosis of the left common iliac artery. Six weeks later, a new MRI scan demonstrated that the AnLSA had increased in size. The lesion was then excluded endovascularly by injection of glue.

CONCLUSION:

A medical history of renal transplantation with MRI scans showing an anterior epidural mass behind S1 or a spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma are features that must evoke a diagnosis of AnLSA. Treatment is mandatory and is best achieved by embolization. Surgery based on angiographic findings is indicated if the lesion is responsible for a compressive hematoma.

Spinal aneurysm of the lateral sacral artery. Case report

Spinal aneurysms are rare, and those not associated with either an arteriovenous malformation or coarctation of the aorta are particularly rare. In this report, the authors present a case of spinal aneurysm involving the lateral sacral artery. The aneurysm presented as a cauda equina syndrome 6 years after the patient underwent a renal transplant contralateral to the side of the aneurysm parent vessel. To the authors' knowledge, only one similar case has been previously reported. They conclude that spinal aneurysms should be included in the differential diagnosis of an extramedullary spinal mass lesion.

Complete nonsurgical resolution of a spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma

Spontaneous spinal epidural hematomas (SSEH) are heralded by spinal pain and progressive cord compression syndromes which may lead to permanent neurological disability or death if emergent neurosurgical intervention is delayed. It therefore must be considered early in the differential diagnosis of acute spinal cord compression syndrome. A case of spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma presenting as an acute myelopathy in a clarinet player who chronically used a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication is presented. The case was remarkable for the rare complete spontaneous resolution of neurological function. Approximately 250 cases of SSEH have been reported in the medical literature, although only a handful of these patients have recovered spontaneously. This is the sixth report of such an event. The etiologies, contributing factors, disease progression, and treatment recommendations are discussed.

Subdural hemorrhage of the cauda equina. A rare complication of cerebrospinal fluid shunt. Case report

We describe the case of a 16-year-old boy with idiopathic hydrocephalus, who developed cranial subdural hygromas and subsequent cranial subdural hemorrhage after a shunting procedure. Sciatica and radicular lumbar pain initially seemed to be unrelated to the proceeding implantation of a ventriculoatrial shunt. CT scan revealed a sharply demarcated hyperdensity in the lumbar subdural space with compression of the cauda equina. Differential diagnosis considerations included vascular malformations, vascular tumors, benign tumors of meninges or nerve sheets, ependymoma, lymphoma, and metastases. MR investigation did, in fact, clearly recognize this hyperintense space-occupying lesion as blood in the subdural space which outlined the cauda equina. We believe that the spinal subdural hematoma in our case represented an extension of intracranial subdural haemorrhage fluid into the spinal subdural space.