Usefulness of Surgical Diagnosis and Treatment of Spinal Cord Injury Caused by Epidural Spinal Arteriovenous Malformation Rupture: A Case Report of an Extremely Rare Disease

Abstract

Spinal arteriovenous malformation (AVM) can cause spontaneous spinal hemorrhage. It is a rare disease that is difficult to diagnose because of technical difficulties in performing angiography and the small lesion size. To date, the most appropriate method of treating and diagnosing spontaneous spinal hemorrhage due to spinal AVMs with neurological deficits remains unclear. Herein, we present a rare case of spontaneous vertebral hemorrhage due to a thoracic epidural spinal AVM, which was removed surgically and accurately diagnosed based on a histopathological examination of the lesion. This case emphasizes that an accurate diagnosis and neurological recovery could be achieved in patients with spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma through biopsy and surgical removal of the hematoma and AVM.