title: Spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma in a 4-month-old infant.
abstract: METHODS
  A case report and a review of literature.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To present the first youngest infant of a 4-month-old boy with spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma in cervicothoracic spine.
  
  
  METHODS
  National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 4-month-old boy who initially presented with irritable crying, neck stiffness, and fever followed by progressive quadriparesis. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the spine disclosed a space-occupying lesion on the right posterior-lateral aspect of the cervicothoracic spinal canal. Laminectomy with reconstruction in situ from C4 to T4 was performed 5 days after the onset of symptoms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The boy had gradual improvement of his neurological status. Follow-up visit 1 year later, the infant's growth and development was within normal limit without any neurological deficits; his repeat MRI showed complete fusion of each implanted lamina and well expansion of the spinal cord.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Prompt surgical decompression is valuable, irrespective of the time interval between symptom onset and operation in infant.
authors.affiliation: 1Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: J-S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: C-Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: K-C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: H-W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: C-C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: H-H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D002574:Cervical Vertebrae; D019299:Decompression, Surgical; D046748:Hematoma, Epidural, Spinal / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007796:Laminectomy; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D011782:Quadriplegia / Q000209:etiology*; D020127:Recovery of Function; D013115:Spinal Canal / Q000473:pathology; D013117:Spinal Cord Compression / Q000150:complications / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae