Abstract
Spinal epidural lipomatosis (SEL) is an abnormal accumulation of unencapsulated, epidural
fat. SEL can be divided into idiopathic and secondary. Secondary SEL is often associated
with chronic steroid use and endocrinopathies. Idiopathic SEL has been associated
with obesity. SEL has been implicated in a variety of neurologic impairments and surgical
decompression has been shown to prevent further worsening or result in improvement.
We report a 53-year-old man with obesity and a history of chronic back pain who developed
idiopathic SEL diagnosed by MRI, which subsequently resolved completely over an 8 month follow-up period. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of complete
radiographic resolution of SEL without any treatment.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
September 27,
2012
Received:
September 23,
2012
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 Elsevier Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
