Objectives: Capillary hemangiomas are benign vascular tumors. They are commonly founded in the vertebral bodies but very seldom in the spinal cord. The most common symptom at onset is long-lasting axial pain without neurologic deficit. In rare cases, the onset may be acute with neurological deficit due to an intratumoral hemorrhage.
Patient and methods: We report a case of a 58-year-old male with a history of 15 days upper back pain triggered by a mild traumatism that evolves acutely to paraplegia and urinary and fecal retention. An urgent MR showed an intradural lesion with signs of intratumoral haemorrhage.
Results: Urgent surgical intervention was performed and the anatomopathological results were capillary hemangioma. The symptoms of the patient improved after the surgery.
Conclusions: Intradural capillary hemangioma with acute intratumoral hemorrhage is a rare pathology, but it must be kept in mind because early diagnosis and treatment are key to achieve a good outcome. As far as we know, this is the first case reported of an intradural-extramedular capillary hemangioma that presents sudden neurologic deficit due to intratumoral bleeding.
Keywords: Acute neurologic deficit; Benign vascular tumor; Capillary hemangioma; Intratumoral hemorrhage.
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