A Case Report: The Challenging Diagnosis of Spontaneous Cervical Epidural Hematoma

An unusual case of ventral spontaneous thoracic epidural hematoma

Spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma (SSEH) rarely occurs. Without early diagnosis, SSEH can lead to the acute onset of neurologic deficits. We report the case of a 65-year-old male with diabetes mellitus who was admitted to our emergency department with a chief complaint of sharp and severe pain in the left scapula and behind the sternum. He was misdiagnosed with cardiovascular disease until the onset of progressive bilateral paraplegia and lower limb numbness. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a ventral thoracic SSEH. Surgical treatment to remove epidural hematoma and laminectomy for decompression were performed. Except for urine retention, bilateral lower limb paraplegia and numbness were alleviated postoperatively. Due to the high risk of poor neurological outcomes without treatment or with delayed intervention, timely surgical evacuation of the hematoma and hemostasis are recommended to ensure favorable neurological outcomes.

Spontaneous cervical epidural hematoma: Insight into this occurrence with case examples

Background:

First characterized in the 19^th century, spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma (SSEH) is known as the idiopathic accumulation of blood within the spinal canal’s epidural space, causing symptoms varying from general back pain to complete paraplegia. With varying etiologies, a broad spectrum of severity and symptoms, a time-dependent resolution period, and no documented diagnosis or treatment algorithm, SSEH is a commonly misunderstood condition associated with increasing morbidity. While SSEH can occur at any vertebrae level, 16% of all SSEH cases occur in the cervical spine, making it a region of interest to clinicians.

Case Description:

Herein, the authors present two case examples describing the clinical presentation of SSEH, while also reviewing the literature to provide a comprehensive overview of its presentation, pathology, and treatment. The first case is a patient with nontraumatic sudden onset neck pain with rapidly progressing weakness. The second case is a patient with painless weakness that developed while taking 325 mg of aspirin daily.

Conclusion:

Clinicians should keep SSEH in their differential diagnosis when seeing patients with nontraumatic sources of weakness in their extremities. The appropriate steps should be followed to diagnose and treat this condition with magnetic resonance imaging and surgical decompression if there are progressive neurological deficits. There is a continued need for more extensive database-driven studies to understand better SSEHs clinical presentation, etiology, and ultimate treatment.