Turkish Neurosurgery 2005 , Vol 15 , Num 2
Abnormal Dilated Epidural Venous Plexus Mimicking Prolapse of Intervertebral Disc Report of three and Review of the Literature
Feridun ACAR, Hakan KAYALI, Ersin ERDOĞAN, Serdar KAHRAMAN, Erdener TİMURKAYNAK
Department of Neurosurgery, Gülhane Military Medical Academy, Ankara, Turkey Lumbar disc disease may be confused with the other pathologies that generate sciatic pain. One of these pathologies is an abnormal dilated epidural venous plexus that mimics herniated lumbar disc disease. The purpose of this report is to describe this situation. Between 2002 and 2004, three of our patients underwent lumbar disc surgery with the preoperative diagnosis of lumbar disc herniation. Instead of disc herniation, abnormal dilated venous plexi were observed at the same level in all patients during the surgery. An abnormal epidural venous plexus that mimics lumbar disc herniation is a rare clinical entity and this pathology should be kept in mind during lumbar disc surgery. Keywords : Dilated epidural venous plexus, lumbar disc surgery
Corresponding author : Feridun Acar, feridunacar@yahoo.com