title: Spontaneous ventral spinal epidural hematoma in an infant: an unusual presentation.
abstract: Spontaneous ventral spinal epidural hematomas are extremely rare in children and clinically recognized by the appearance of acute asymmetric focal motor and sensory involvement. In infants, the initial presenting symptoms are very non-specific and irritability is often the only initial manifestation. Appearance of other neurological signs may be delayed up to hours or even days later. In the absence of significant precipitating factors such as severe trauma or previously known coagulopathies, the diagnosis is usually delayed until the full picture of severe cord compression is developed. The diagnosis is finally made by performing magnetic resonance imaging. We report a 5-month-old infant with spinal epidural hematoma who presented with symmetrical upper limb weakness and diaphragmatic involvement to highlight the importance of recognizing the atypical manifestations for early diagnosis and intervention.
authors.affiliation: Registrar, Department of Pediatrics, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, UP, India.
authors.forename: Asad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abbas
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, UP, India.
authors.forename: Kamran
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Afzal
authors.affiliation: Registrar, Department of Pediatrics, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, UP, India.
authors.forename: Athar Abdul
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Mujeeb
authors.affiliation: Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, UP, India.
authors.forename: Tabassum
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shahab
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Radio-diagnosis, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, UP, India.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Khalid
keywords: Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Neurological Deficit; Spinal Epidural Hematoma; Spinal Hematoma; Spontaneous Epidural Hematoma