Abstract
Symptomatic spinal arachnoidal ossification is an extremely rare condition of unknown etiology, especially at the lower lumbar and sacral region. We experienced a case of 38-year-old man with this condition occuring after myelography and discography.
Preoperatively the useful available diagnostic tool was computed axial tomography.
The removed tissues were histologically true ossification without inflammatory cell infiltration in our case, and so almost in the literatures. Therefore we emphasized that the ossification of the spinal arachnoid was more adequate term than the ossificating arachnoiditis.
Although the ossification was removed attentively, postoperatively the patient experienced urinary retention and weakness of plantar flexion of the ankle. And so the exploration shoud be carried out carefully because of the adhesion between the cauda equina and the ossification such as periradicular, or cylinder, or ring type.
Additionally the literatures were reviewed about the predisposing factor, etiology, diagnosis and treatment of the ossification and calcification.
