title: Cervical epidural abscess associated with massively elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate.
abstract: We present a case of an elderly woman who presented with neck pain, low-grade fever, bandemia, and a massively elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) who had a cervical epidural abscess. We believe that the selective use of ESR assisted in narrowing the differential diagnosis, as the patient had no neurological deficits and no predisposing factors such as distal infection, immunosuppression, trauma, or recent surgery. Furthermore, in the literature, an elevated ESR is consistently found in patients with epidural abscesses, whereas clinical findings such as fever, leukocytosis, and neurological deficits are only variably present.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, Englewood, New Jersey 07631, USA.
authors.forename: Sameer H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Mehta
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shih
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D020802:Epidural Abscess / Q000175:diagnosis*; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*