2002 Volume 14 Issue 2 Pages 193-196
Although ectopic calcification is a common complication of hemodlalysis (HD), it is unlikely to occur in the epidural space. We describe a patient, who developed lumbar radiculopathy due to epidural ectopic calcification as a complication of longterm HD. A 50-year-old woman visited our clinic with a 2-year-history of right leg pain. She had been under HD for 12 years. Plain radlographs, MRIs, myelograms and CTs revealed a calcified epidural mass that compressed the nerve root. Muscle weakness and drop foot had developed in the right side. The ectopic calcification was successfully extirpated using a spinal endoscope and a small skin incision of 1.6 cm in length, according to the method of microendoscopic discectomy. After the operation, the leg pain decreased, and weakness improved to some extent. The endoscopic surgery, which is less Invasive than the conventional open technique, is useful technique for patients under long-term HD, since such patients are in poor general conditions.
