SPINAL EXTRADURAL ARTERIOVENOUS MALFORMATION PRESENTING WITH RECURRENT HEMORRHAGE AND INTERMITTENT PARAPLEGIA - CASE-REPORT AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Symptomatic spinal extradural arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are u ncommon. They usually present with slowly progressive myelopathy and/o r radiculopathy and only rarely with spinal extradural hemorrhage (SEH ). Histopathologic features of a true spinal extradural AVM causing an overt SEH have only previously been described in four cases. A furthe r case of a histologically confirmed spinal extradural AVM causing SEH in a 50-year-old otherwise medically normal Caucasian woman is presen ted. Recurrent hemorrhage resulted in intermittent paraplegia and acut e chest/shoulder pain-diagnosed initially as hysteria. Interesting seq uential myelographic, computed tomographic, and magnetic resonance ima ging studies are presented, and the literature on spinal extradural AV Ms presenting with SEH is reviewed.