background & aim: lumbar spinal stenosis (lss) is a common condition. this congenital or acquired stenosis has multiple etiologies. the goal of this study was to describe intraoperative pathoanatomic findings of lumbar spinal stenosis observed within a black african population. methods & materials/patients: it was a retrospective and descriptive study performed at departmental teaching hospital...

Background & Aim: Lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) is a common condition. This congenital or acquired stenosis has multiple etiologies. The goal of this study was to describe intraoperative pathoanatomic findings of lumbar spinal stenosis observed within a black African population. Methods & Materials/Patients: It was a retrospective and descriptive study performed at Departmental Teaching Hospital...

Myotonic dystrophy is the most common autosomal dominant myopathy in adults. Our patient, a 41 year-old female suffering from myotonic muscular dystrophy, developed upper thoracic myelopathy due to hypertrophy of the ligamentum flavum and the posterior longitudinal ligament. She had a typical hatchet face and ptosis with "head hanging forward" appearance caused by neck weakness. Motor weakness,...

INTRODUCTION Lumbar spinal stenosis with symptomatic neurogenic claudication is a frequently encountered clinical entity which requires endoscopic or open spine surgery once the patients fail to respond to conservative therapies. In this case report we present a novel minimally invasive decompression technique using a fluid jet device (HydroCision Inc, Billerica, MA, USA) for a patient with sym...

BACKGROUND Epidural blocks are widely used for the management of acute and chronic pain. The technique of loss of resistance is frequently adopted to determine the epidural space. A discontinuity of the ligamentum flavum may increase the risk of failure to identify the epidural space. The purpose of this study was to investigate the anatomic variations of the cervical and high thoracic ligament...

PURPOSE To examine ligamentum flavum thickness using magnetic resonance (MR) images to evaluate its association with low back pain symptoms, age, gender, lumbar level, and disc characteristics. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sixty-three individuals were part of this IRB-approved study: twenty-seven with chronic low back pain, and thirty-six as asymptomatic. All patients underwent MR imaging and comput...

INTRODUCTION Achondroplasia is a genetic disorder of bone growth. Congenital spinal stenosis is a well-known complication of this disease, but, to the best of our knowledge, no cases involving combined stenosis with congenital lumbar spinal stenosis and ossification of the ligamentum flavum in achondroplasia have been reported previously. In this report, we describe a case of a patient with con...

A patient who presented with symptoms suggestive of nerve root compression secondary to an extradural mass was found to have a hematoma in the ligamentum flavum. Pathological examination of surgical specimens revealed an old hemorrhage, and hemosiderin deposits around organized granulation tissue within the ligamentum flavum. Vessels within the ligamentum flavum had, presumably, ruptured during...

We describe a rare case of lumbar spinal stenosis due to a large calcified mass in the ligamentum flavum. This patient presented with a 12-month history of severe right leg pain and intermittent claudication. A computed tomography scan was performed, revealing a large calcified mass on the ligamentum flavum at the right-hand side of the lumbar spinal canal. We performed a laminotomy at the L4/5...

Neurogenic claudication resulting from focal hypertrophy of the ligamentum flavum in the lumbar spine due to ochronotic deposits has not been reported till date. The authors discuss one such case highlighting the pathogenesis, histological and radiological features. Salient features of management are also emphasized upon.