Idiopathic Hypertrophic Spinal Pachymeningitis: A Case Report

Abstract

Idiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitis is rare cause of neurological symptoms with myelopathy due to spinal cord compression. We report a case of pachymeningitis, which was manifested primarily by tetraparesis after low-energy trauma and recurrence the myelopathy symptoms after 5 years of surgery. The patient, a 19-year-old woman, was subjected to extensive investigation without evidence of any underlying disease. A meningeal biopsy was performed and showed an unspecific inflammatory process with extensive fibrosis of the dura mater. These findings, associated with the exclusion of other causes, suggest idiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitis.