Spinal Cord Compression by Extramedullary Haematopoiesis in Myelosclerosis.

Spinal cord compression by extradural deposits is not uncommon in myeloma (Clarke, 1956; McKissock, Bloom, and Chynn, 1961), leukaemia (Wilhyde, Jane, and Mullan, 1963), and Hodgkin's disease (Bhagwati and McKissock, 1961). Cord compression by the malignant lymphomas is discussed by Love, Miller, and Kernohan (1954) and by Hutchinson, Leonard, Maudsley, and Yates (1958). Close, Taira, and Cleveland (1958) reported a case of myelosclerosis in which an extradural mass of haematopoietic tissue compressed the spinal cord. They were unable to find any reports of similar cases in a review of the literature over the previous 40 years and we have not found any recorded subsequently. We report another patient with this rare complication of myelosclerosis, in whom surgical treatment led to gratifying clinical improvement.