[Etiological aspects of non-tubercular spinal cord compression in Senegal (report of 253 cases)]

Although always dominated by Pott's Affliction, other medullar compression etiologies nevertheless constitute an important chapter in medullar pathology. Retrospective study of 253 files on non-Pottic medullar compressions compiled over 16 years (January 1972 to December 1987) led the authors to the following conclusions: non-Pottic L.M.C.s. are predominant in men aged between 40 and 50, their clinical symptoms show no peculiarities; ordinary X-rays or myelography will often reveal the mechanism of the compression; etiologically, extradural compressions represent 65% of the causes, with secondary cancer of the spine (97 cases) and epiduritis playing an important role, followed by extramedullary intradural causes (70 cases), although meningioma are relatively rare (8 cases). Finally, intramedullary tumours in this series exclusively made up of glioma seem rare.