title: Acute traumatic cord injury associated with ossified ligamentum flavum.
abstract: Ossification of the ligamentum flavum (OLF) is an uncommon condition, which usually occurs amongst people of Asian descent, and most commonly in the thoracic spine region. Whilst often asymptomatic, OLF can cause spinal canal stenosis, with patients presenting with back pain, posterior cord syndrome or myelopathy. We present a rare case of acute spinal cord injury associated with OLF after a kite surfing accident, with the resulting paraplegia partially improved after decompression was performed. The prevalence, presentation and management of OLF are also discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Alfred Hospital, 55 Commercial Road, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia.
authors.forename: Chien Yew
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Kow
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Alfred Hospital, 55 Commercial Road, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia. Electronic address: chan.ch.patrick@bigpond.com.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Etherington
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Alfred Hospital, 55 Commercial Road, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia.
authors.forename: Jeffrey V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Rosenfeld
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D019299:Decompression, Surgical / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017843:Ligamentum Flavum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009999:Ossification, Heterotopic / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D010264:Paraplegia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery
keywords: Acute spinal injury; Ossification of ligamentum flavum; Ossified ligamentum flavum; Paraplegia; Spinal canal stenosis; Thoracic spine