AIM Cauda equina syndrome is a rare but highly impairing syndrome involving lower limbs as well as urinary, defecatory and sexual function. In the literature the most investigated sphincter dysfunction is the urinary. Bowel and sexual function are often overlooked since they become more relevant after the acute phase. PATIENTS AND METHODS Eight consecutive male patients affected by cauda equi...

PURPOSE To describe a case of complete neurological recovery from cauda equina syndrome lasting ten months following spinal anesthesia with 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine and epidural anesthesia with ropivacaine, and to discuss the possible mechanisms involved. CLINICAL FINDINGS A 79-yr-old man with Paget's disease was scheduled for surgery to remove a skin tumour below his scrotum. He had no hi...

A 26-year-old male with a history of a work-related back injury presented to the emergency department complaining of several weeks of low back pain radiating down his left leg. For the past day, he noticed numbness to his perineal area and feet bilaterally, and difficulty urinating. He denied recent trauma, leg weakness, or fevers. Physical examination revealed perineal anesthesia and decreased...

Intradural disc herniation (IDDH) is a rare complication of intervertebral disc disease and comprises 0.26-0.30% of all herniated discs, with 92% of them located in the lumbar region (1). We present a case of IDDH that presented with intermittent symptoms and signs of cauda equina compression. We were unable to find in the literature, any previously described cases of intermittent cauda equina ...

The pathogenesis of the cauda equina syndrome of ankylosing spondylitis is unknown. The long duration between the onset of ankylosing spondylitis and neurological symptoms (average 35 years in the Mayo Clinic series') argues against a shared inflammatory cause, as does the relative normality of CSF.' 2 Matthews suggested that arterial pulsations transmitted to the CSF might produce not only the...

Cauda equina syndrome (CES) is a rare entity presenting with low back pain, unilateral or bilateral sciatica, motor weakness of lower extremities, sensory disturbance in the perineal area, and urinary and/or faecal incontinence. Those symptoms are secondary to compression of the cauda equina. If not recognized, CES can lead to irreversible disabilities. We report the case of a 77-year-old lady ...

We report a case of cauda equina syndrome caused by Gnathostoma spinigerum, which was confirmed by an immunoblotting test. MR imaging of the lumbosacral spine showed long, segmented hyperintensity along the cauda equina with irregular enhancement on the postcontrast study. The conus medullaris was slightly enlarged with abnormal enhancement. The patient was treated with corticosteroids, and her...

The diagnosis of pituitary carcinoma cannot be made easily histologically, and most cases of pituitary carcinoma are diagnosed only after the clinical detection of metastasis. Distant metastasis of pituitary tumor occurs in 0.1% to 0.2% of cases and has been reported in the liver, bone and central nervous system, with only one case of metastasis to the cauda equine reported. This study describe...

Transverse sacral fractures in young patients occur with high-energy mechanisms. Because of the drawbacks in radiographic and neurologic evaluations of the sacral area in polytrauma patients, misdiagnosis is quite common. In this study, we aimed to report our clinical results in three patients with displaced transverse sacral fractures compromising the sacral canal and concomitant late-diagnose...

Spinal cord ischemia is an uncommon complication of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). We report the case of a 59-year-old man admitted for an acute ischemic Cauda equina syndrome secondary to a spinal cord embolization from an unknown partially thrombosed aortic aneurysm. The patient being at risk of further embolization, we achieved an emergency EVAR. The vascular post-operative course was u...