Spinal intramedullary hematoma presenting years following a cervical epidural injection
Zaid Aljuboori1, Brian Williams2
1Department of Neurosurgery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States.
Background:
Intramedullary cervical cystic lesions are typically attributed to tumors, infection, or trauma. Here, a patient newly presented with quadriparesis due to a chronic cervical intramedullary hematoma attributed to a cervical epidural steroid injection (CESI) performed 4 years earlier.
Case Description:
A 38-year-old patient had a CESI in 2014. Resulting in a transient quadriparesis attributed to an inadvertent intramedullary cord injection. Now, at age 42, she presented with a recurrent cervical myelopathy due to an MR-documented C3-C6 intramedullary cystic lesion that at surgery proved to be a chronic liquified hematoma rather than a syrinx.
Conclusion:
CESI can result in inadvertent intramedullary hemorrhages and spinal cord injuries. Here, a 42-year-old female presented with recurrent myelopathy due to a chronic intramedullary C3-C6 cervical hematoma attributed a prior intramedullary CESI injection performed 4 years previously.
