Delayed neurological deficits induced by an epidural hematoma associated with a thoracic osteoporotic compression fracture.

A 79-year-old woman developed neurological deficits 6 weeks after the onset of a thoracic osteoporotic compression fracture. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the thoracic spine revealed an epidural hematoma at the T10-L2 levels. Acute decompressive laminectomy and percutaneous vertebroplasty were performed. Following the surgery, the patient's neurologic deficits improved and follow-up MR imaging showed complete resolution of the hematoma. Spinal epidural hematomas are rare and associated delayed neurological deficits are extremely rare. Conservative treatment may be effective for epidural hematomas in neurologically intact patients, but epidural hematomas can be a cause of neural compression and symptomatic deterioration resulting in delayed neurological deficits during the follow-up period.