A rare etiology of cauda equina syndrome

Fungal infections of the spine are very rare and usually seen in immunocompromised patients. Acute cauda equina syndrome presenting in an immunocompetent patient is usually due to a prolapse of the intervertebral disc. Infective pathology caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis with epidural collectio...

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Main Authors: Sumit Batra, Sumit Arora, Hemant Meshram, Geetika Khanna, Shabnam B Grover, Vinod K Sharma
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries 2010-08-01
Series:Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
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Online Access:https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/1001
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author Sumit Batra
Sumit Arora
Hemant Meshram
Geetika Khanna
Shabnam B Grover
Vinod K Sharma
author_facet Sumit Batra
Sumit Arora
Hemant Meshram
Geetika Khanna
Shabnam B Grover
Vinod K Sharma
author_sort Sumit Batra
collection DOAJ
description Fungal infections of the spine are very rare and usually seen in immunocompromised patients. Acute cauda equina syndrome presenting in an immunocompetent patient is usually due to a prolapse of the intervertebral disc. Infective pathology caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis with epidural collection can also have a similar presentation. We present a case of spinal epidural abscess caused by Aspergillus fumigatus, presenting as acute cauda equina syndrome. To the best of our knowledge, spinal aspergillosis presenting as cauda equina syndrome in an immunocompetent patient has not been reported before in the English-language based medical literature. Surgical decompression with antifungal treatment with oral itraconazole yielded a good recovery.
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publisher The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
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series Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
spelling doaj-art-e60b36bf0b9a48b88f413ceeddcce3bf2025-08-20T02:57:04ZengThe Journal of Infection in Developing CountriesJournal of Infection in Developing Countries1972-26802010-08-0150110.3855/jidc.1001A rare etiology of cauda equina syndromeSumit Batra0Sumit Arora1Hemant Meshram2Geetika Khanna3Shabnam B Grover4Vinod K Sharma5Central Institute of Orthopaedics, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Associated Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, IndiaMaulana Azad Medical College and Associated Lok Nayak Hospital, New Delhi, IndiaCentral Institute of Orthopaedics, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Associated Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, IndiaVardhman Mahavir Medical College and Associated Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, IndiaVardhman Mahavir Medical College and Associated Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, IndiaCentral Institute of Orthopaedics, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Associated Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India Fungal infections of the spine are very rare and usually seen in immunocompromised patients. Acute cauda equina syndrome presenting in an immunocompetent patient is usually due to a prolapse of the intervertebral disc. Infective pathology caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis with epidural collection can also have a similar presentation. We present a case of spinal epidural abscess caused by Aspergillus fumigatus, presenting as acute cauda equina syndrome. To the best of our knowledge, spinal aspergillosis presenting as cauda equina syndrome in an immunocompetent patient has not been reported before in the English-language based medical literature. Surgical decompression with antifungal treatment with oral itraconazole yielded a good recovery. https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/1001Cauda equina syndromefungal epidural abscessvertebral osteomyelitisaspergillosislaminectomy
spellingShingle Sumit Batra
Sumit Arora
Hemant Meshram
Geetika Khanna
Shabnam B Grover
Vinod K Sharma
A rare etiology of cauda equina syndrome
Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
Cauda equina syndrome
fungal epidural abscess
vertebral osteomyelitis
aspergillosis
laminectomy
title A rare etiology of cauda equina syndrome
title_full A rare etiology of cauda equina syndrome
title_fullStr A rare etiology of cauda equina syndrome
title_full_unstemmed A rare etiology of cauda equina syndrome
title_short A rare etiology of cauda equina syndrome
title_sort rare etiology of cauda equina syndrome
topic Cauda equina syndrome
fungal epidural abscess
vertebral osteomyelitis
aspergillosis
laminectomy
url https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/1001
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