Spine subdural hematoma: a rare complication associated with vitamin K antagonist (VKA)

Spinal subdural hematoma (SSDH) is a rare condition, which is difficult to diagnose, related to Vitamin K Antagonist. This a case report of a life-threatening situation in a octogenarian patient with a history of recent atrial fibrillation that received K-Vitamin Antagonist (KVA) therapy. The history and the clinical assessment were normal at the admission, associated with increase in the coagulation parameters (INR >10). Twenty-four hours after the admission, the patient developed progressive tetraparesis and a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) was performed, disclosing the evidence of a SSDH (Figure 1). An emergency neurosurgical intervention was performed associated with normalization of the coagulation parameters. After the procedure, the patient presented improvement of the neurological symptoms.