A Case of Ventral Spinal Cord Herniation from a Chronic Dural-pleural Fistula Resulting in Thoracic Myelopathy

Abstract

Formation of a dural-pleural fistula is uncommon after anterior thoracic spine surgery, tumor, or trauma. The goal of surgical management is to terminate the connection between the pleura and subarachnoid space. We describe a case of chronic dural-pleural fistula in a 70-year-old woman and present a unique surgical treatment option. The patient presented 25 years after an anterior thoracic surgery she had undergone for a thoracic disc herniation, with a dural-pleural fistula and ventral herniation of the spinal cord into the defect. She was treated with a bovine pericardium sling patch to cover the defect. This case highlights the identification of a chronic thoracic dural-pleural fistula and surgical treatment with double intradural and extradural layering of bovine pericardium sling patch, which has not been described previously for chronic thoracic dural-pleural fistula.