Images in medicine
Epidural lipomatosis
| The first 100% of the full text of this article appears below. |
A 51-year-old man presented with radicular-like pain in the left lower limb and intermittent claudication lasting for 1 year. Pain in the legs was evoked by standing or walking more than 300 meters and rapidly relieved by sitting. Clinical examination only disclosed significant overweight (weight 100 kg; height 163 cm; BMI: 37.6 kg/m2). Electromyography showed chronic neurogenic abnormalities in the muscles supplied by the left L5 nerve root. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the lumbar spine disclosed cauda equina compression by epidural lipomatosis (see figure on opposite page, A and B).
After 3 months on a hypocaloric diet leading to 20 kg weight loss, pain and claudication had completely resolved. MRI showed a dramatic regression of the epidural lipomatosis (figure, C and D). In the differential diagnosis of lumbar stenosis, the clinician must keep in mind the possibility of epidural lipomatosis, even in patients without systemic glucocorticoid therapy or Cushing's disease.
| Figure Removed (Available Only in the Full Text) |
YVES BOUTSEN
Department of Rheumatology
JULIAN DONCKIER
Department of Internal Medicine and Endocrinology, UCL (Université Catholique de Louvain), University Hospital
of Mont-Godinne, 5530 Yvoir, Belgium
Submitted 3 February 1999
Accepted 12 July 1999
© 2000 by The Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine
CiteULike 
Complore 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us 
Digg 
Reddit 
Technorati What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
-
Ostlere, S, Javid, M
(2005). Radiculopathy. Imaging
17: 208-225
[Abstract] [Full Text]
- Full Text
- Submit a response
- Alert me when this article is cited
- Alert me when eLetters are posted
- Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
- Email this link to a friend
- Similar articles in this journal
- Similar articles in PubMed
- Add article to my folders
- Download to citation manager
- Request Permissions
Citing Articles
Google Scholar
PubMed
Topic Collections
Bookmark with
Register for free content
The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.
Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.
