[Spinal extradural haematoma--the cause of the bleeding (author's transl)]

A case of spontaneous spinal extradural haematoma is reported in an 18-year-old male patient. Neither hypertension nor haemorrhagic diathesis was found as a possible cause of bleeding. A conglomerate of abnormal vessels was removed at operation, and histological examination showed the appearance of venous racemose angioma. Reviewing the available literature, 85 cases of spontaneous spinal extradural haematoma have been reported. Twenty-five of them were 20 years of age or younger, and the histological confirmation of angioma as a cause of bleeding was obtained in only five. Nevertheless, an angioma should be seriously suspected as a possible cause of spontaneous spinal extradural haematoma, particularly in the young.