Abstract
We report two cases of acute spinal epidural hematoma with spontaneous resolution.
Case 1: A 71-year-old woman experienced sudden onset of neck pain. On admission, neurological examination showed left hemiplegia. MRI revealed hematoma compressing her spinal cord from C4 to C6. Her symptoms recovered after 16 hours and almost complete recovery was achieved 3 days after the onset. MRI showed that her hematoma disappeared on the 21th day after onset.
Case 2: A 63-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital for acute onset of severe backpain and paraplegia below L1. Her paraplegia recovered gradually about 3 hours after onset, and there was no recurence of paraplegia. The hematoma appeared from Th11 to L1 on MRI and disappeared on the 60th day after onset.
MRI is useful for detecting acute spinal epidural hematoma safely and accurately.
Conservative management may be appropriate in these instances in which early neurological recovery occuris.
