Spinal epidural hematoma induced by leukemia.

Spinal epidural hematoma, a potentially devastating problem, requires rapid diagnosis and urgent surgical intervention. Two types of spinal epidural hematoma have been described in the literature: traumatic and nontraumatic.1 Traumatic spinal epidural hematoma has been attributed to spine surgery,2 epidural catheter placement,3 lumbar puncture,4 and chiropractic manipulation.5 Nontraumatic, or spontaneous, epidural hematoma has been associated with anticoagulation,6 thrombolytic agents,7 antiplatelet medications,8 hemophilia,9 among other causes.10-13 There is a single reported case of spontaneous epidural hematoma is attributed to underlying malignancy.14 This article reports a case of nontraumatic spinal epidural hematoma secondary to the blast crisis phase of chronic myelogenous leukemia.