title: Post-lumbar puncture arachnoiditis. The need for directed questioning.
abstract: The inflammation of the arachnoid mater may produce a fibrinous exudate around the roots that causes them to adhere to the dural sheath. We report the case of a man aged 23 years who suffered from acute inflammatory truncated sciatica. The diagnosis of adhesive arachnoiditis was made in front of clinical arguments associated to typical signs on Myelo CT Scan and MRI. The only explanation ever found was a traumatic lumbar puncture at the age of 6 years for suspected meningitis. Sequelae of arachnoiditis are difficult to diagnosis. When MRI or myelography suggests it as a possibility, precise directed questioning is necessary to seek a history, albeit distant, of spinal or meningeal events.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Hospital Pitié-Salpêtrière, 47-83 boulevard de l'Hôpital, 75013 Paris, France. f.etchepare@psl.ap-hop-paris.fr
authors.forename: Fabien
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Etchepare
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Roche
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rozenberg
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dion
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bourgeois
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fautrel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001100:Arachnoiditis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000209:etiology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009192:Myelography; D012585:Sciatica / Q000209:etiology; D013129:Spinal Puncture / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed