Intramedullary abscess--a rare complication of spinal dysraphism

Two cases are reported of patients with spinal dysraphism who developed abscesses within the spinal cord. In one case the infection had spread to the cord through a dermal sinus, as in the six cases previously recorded in the literature. In the other patient the sepsis developed within an intramedullary epidermoid tumour, but the route of infection was not clear. Each patient made a virtually full neurological recovery after open drainage of the abscess.