SURGICAL MANAGEMENT OF TRAUMATIC VERTEBRAL BODY COMPRESSION FRACTURE WITH CORD COMPRESSION IN A THALASSEMIC PATIENT. CASE REPORT

Extramedullary hematopoiesis associated with thalassemia causing spinal cord compression is a rare event in the course of the disease. Management of these patients remains controversial. We present a case of traumatic vertebral body compression fracture with cord compression in association with thalassemia, which was treated successfully with spinal decompression and fusion, xation using implants and bone graft.

Diastematomyelia in Adults

We describe two cases of incidentally discovered split cord malformations in adults undergoing MR for symptoms unrelated to that malformation. Case 1 is an 80-year-old woman with pain due to a D7 and D8 vertebral body compression fracture resistant to medical treatment where we performed D7 and D8 percutaneous vertebroplasty with no complications and satisfactory pain control. Case 2 is a 59-year-old woman with L5 radiculopathy due to L5-S1 spondilolysthesis who had a satisfactory pain relief under medical treatment. The implementation and worldwide diffusion of MR revealed that diastematomyelia, split cord malformations traditionally seen in children, may be less rare than we thought in adults and can remain asymptomatic.