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CC BY 4.0 · Surg J (N Y) 2021; 07(03): e174-e178
DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1731448
Case Report

Spinal Arachnoiditis Ossificans: A Case-Based Update

Anna Brunner 
1   Department of Neurosurgery, Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria
,
Marlene Leoni
2   Institute of Pathology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
,
Sandro Eustacchio
1   Department of Neurosurgery, Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria
,
Senta Kurschel-Lackner
1   Department of Neurosurgery, Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria
› Author Affiliations Funding No funding was received for this research.
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Abstract

Arachnoiditis ossificans is a rare disease, characterized by intradural ossifications, representing the end stage of chronic adhesive arachnoiditis. We describe the case of a 55-year-old patient who developed symptoms of a cauda equina syndrome after an open microdiscectomy at the L5 to S1 segment. A subsequent exploratory surgery revealed an intradural concentric bony structure with partly incorporated and partly adherent nerve roots. A partial removal of the intradural calcifications was performed. Postoperatively, the patient showed neurological improvement. The removed intradural calcifications were submitted for histological analysis and proved to be normal bone tissue, notably containing yellow bone marrow. To our knowledge, the presence of yellow bone marrow within bony cavities of arachnoiditis ossificans has not previously been reported.

Keywords

arachnoiditis ossificans - spinal surgery - yellow bone marrow - cauda equina syndrome

Authors' Contribution

All authors contributed to the case report conception and design. Data collection and analysis were performed by Anna Brunner, Marlene Leoni, Sandro Eustacchio, and Senta Kurschel-Lackner. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Anna Brunner and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.


Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.


Written informed consent was obtained from the participant for whom identifying information is included in this article. The participant has consented to the submission of the case report to the journal.




Publication History

Received: 23 February 2021

Accepted: 15 May 2021

Article published online:
22 July 2021

© 2021. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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