Dural sac ectasia is a very infrequent anatomical abnormality, usually caused by connective tissue diseases, as Marfan syndrome. Very few cases have been described being a consequence of a previous spine surgical procedure. We describe the case of an elderly patient who should be operated on twice due to sub-occlusive colon disease. Surgery was performed under spinal anaesthesia. A dural sac ec...

BACKGROUND The quoted risk of hemorrhage from dural arteriovenous fistulae with cortical venous reflux varies widely, and the influence of angiographic grade on clinical course has not previously been reported. OBJECTIVE To assess the risk of hemorrhage and the influence of angiographic grade on this risk, compared with known predictors of hemorrhage such as presentation. METHODS Seventy-fi...

Orthopaedic involvement is the most common clinical presentation of Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF-1) patients with the spinal abnormalities more frequently affected. In the spinal deformities of NF-1 patients, despite the scoliosis is the most frequent finding, several distinctive radiographic features, such as dural ectasia, defective pedicles, and spondylolisthesis, are relatively less common....

• Vol 10 • March 2008 194 Marfan syndrome is a genetic, dominant, systemic connective tissue disease with variable clinical features, some of which are life threatening. The prevalence is 1:10,000 live births [1]. The syndrome results from mutations in the FBN1 gene, on chromosome 15, which encodes for the fibrillin 1 protein. Fibrillin is an important compound in the extracellular matrix and t...

Spinal reconstruction with pedicle screw-based instrumentation and rhBMP-2 in patients with neurofibromatosis and severe dural ectasia and spinal deformity: Report of two cases and a review of the literature.

Background and Importance: Dural ectasia is circumferential extension or dilatation of the dural sac, it commonly associated with Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). Because NF1 a high likelihood tumor formation, critical to distinguish from other posterior mediastinal cancers such as neurofibroma, neuroblastoma, ganglioneuroma. Scoliosis most frequently observed feature in patients spinal deformit...