2001 Volume 15 Issue 3 Pages 237-242
Lateral thoracic meningocele is rare and usually associated with neurofibromatosis. Their etiology is still controversial. Also spontaneous leakage of the spinal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is rare, but it is increasingly recognized as a cause of intracranial hypotension. The authors report a case of traumatic subarachnoid-pleural fistula mimicking lateral thoracic meningocele. A 52-year-old woman presented the symptom of intracranial hypotension secondary to a leakage of CSF originating from traumatic thoracic pseudo-meningocele. Most cases of intracranial hypotension resolve spontaneously, but in cases with protracted symptoms we suggest that surgical treatment can be accomplished with satisfactory results. We postulate the role of trauma in development of lateral thoracic meningocele in some patients without neurofibromatosis.
