Turkish Neurosurgery 2011 , Vol 21 , Num 4
Pneumorrhachis Associated with Bronchial Asthma, Subcutaneous Emphysema and Pneumomediastinum
Alper KARAOGLAN1, Mehmet Alpay CAL1, Alpay ORKI2, Bekir Muhsin ARPAOZU3, Ahmet COLAK1
1Maltepe University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery, Istanbul, Turkey
2Maltepe University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Thoracic Surgery, Istanbul, Turkey
3Maltepe University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Istanbul, Turkey
DOI : 10.5137/1019-5149.JTN .3018-10.1 Pneumorrhachis is defined as the presence of air in the epidural space or subarachnoid space. The air may migrate along fascial planes from the posterior mediastinum, through the neural foramina, and into the epidural space. Pneumorrhachis is rare, and even more so in the paediatric population. Pneumorrhachis in itself usually is asymptomatic, does not tend to migrate and reabsorbs spontaneously. The combination of pneumomediastinum with epidural pneumorrhachis without thoracic trauma has rarely been reported in the literature. The present case report describes the presence of pneumomediastinum, subcutaneous emphysema, and pneumorrhachis in a child asthmatic patient who had a history of fever, violent cough. Keywords : Bronchial asthma, Epidural emphysema, Pneumomediastinum, Pneumorrhachis, Subcutaneous emphysema
Corresponding author : Alper Karaoglan, drkaraoglan@yahoo.com