Epidermoid tumor: an unusual cause of ossification within the spinal canal.

Epidermoid tumors of the spinal canal are rare. We report two patients with intraspinal lesions and radiographically evident calcification. One proved to have an epidermoid tumor. Although the tissue diagnosis in the second was not definitive, it suggested an epidermoid tumor as well. Radiographically visible ossification or calcification has not been reported before in intraspinal epidermoids.