Idiopathic spinal epidural lipomatosis: urgent decompression in an atypical case

Could Spinal Epidural Lipomatosis Be the Hallmark of Metabolic Syndrome on the Spine? A Literature Review with Emphasis on Etiology

Spinal epidural lipomatosis is defined by an excessive amount of epidural fat in the spinal canal, usually in the lumbosacral tract: a well-known cause of lumbar pain and spinal stenosis with a possible wide range of neurological symptoms. Recent research data reveal that, nowadays, obesity has become the main cause of spinal epidural lipomatosis. Moreover, this condition was recently recognized as a previously unknown manifestation of metabolic syndrome. Radiological studies (CT and MRI) are the only tools that are able to diagnose the disease non-invasively. Indeed, radiologists play a key role in disease recognition, with subsequent possible implications on patients' systemic health assessments. Despite its clinical importance, the condition is still underreported and neglected. The current literature review summarizes all the main etiologies of spinal epidural lipomatosis, particularly regarding its linkage with metabolic syndrome. An overview of disease characteristics from diagnosis to treatment strategies is also provided.

Clinical and radiological characteristics of spinal epidural lipomatosis: A retrospective review of 90 consecutive patients

Background

The epidemiology and clinical characteristics of spinal epidural lipomatosis (SEL) have been well-reported in the literature. However, few studies investigated the concomitant spinal pathologies that were present in patients with SEL. Therefore, we aimed to summarize the clinical and radiological characteristics of patients with SEL diagnosed on spinal imaging.

Methods

Patients who were diagnosed with SEL on magnetic resonance imaging from January 2018 to October 2020 at our institution were included in the study. Clinical data was collected using a standardized data collection form. SEL was graded using a modified version of the Borré grading system. Factors associated with moderate or severe SEL were determined using multiple logistic regression.

Results

A total of 90 patients were included in the analysis. The mean (±SD) age was 59.3 (±17.1) years, and 62 patients (68.9%) were male. 61 patients (67.8%) had moderate or severe SEL. Most patients were overweight or obese (57 patients, 63.3%). The most common presenting symptoms was back pain (57 patients, 63.3%). SEL was diagnosed incidentally in 42 patients (46.7%). The lumbar spine was the most common site of SEL (35 patients, 38.9%). The most common concomitant spinal pathologies were disc bulge (83 patients, 92.2%) and flavum hypertrophy (60 patients, 66.7%). Moderate or severe SEL was associated with WHO Obesity Class, back pain or radicular leg pain at first presentation, and SEL that was worst at the lumbar or lumbosacral spinal level.

Conclusions

Moderate or severe SEL were independently associated with WHO Obesity Class, back pain, radicular leg pain, and SEL that was worst at the lumbar or lumbosacral spinal level. Future studies should prospectively evaluate whether weight loss therapy is warranted in patients with SEL.

A New Subform? Fast-Progressing, Severe Neurological Deterioration Caused by Spinal Epidural Lipomatosis

Spinal epidural lipomatosis (SEL) is a rare condition caused by hypertrophic growth of epidural fat. The prevalence of SEL in the Western world is approximately 1 in 40 patients and is likely to increase due to current medical and socio-economic developments. Rarely, SEL can lead to rapid severe neurological deterioration. The pathophysiology, optimal treatment, and outcome of these patients remain unclear. This study aims to widen current knowledge about this “SEL subform” and to improve its clinical management. A systematic literature review according to the PRISMA guidelines using PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library was used to identify publications before 7 November 2021 reporting on acute/rapidly progressing, severe SEL. The final analysis comprised 12 patients with acute, severe SEL. The majority of the patients were male (9/12) and multimorbid (10/12). SEL mainly affected the thoracic part of the spinal cord (11/12), extending a median number of 7 spinal levels (range: 4–19). Surgery was the only chosen therapy (11/12), except for one critically ill patient. Regarding the outcome, half of the patients regained independence (6/11; = modified McCormick Scale ≤ II). Acute, severe SEL is a rare condition, mainly affecting multimorbid patients. The prognosis is poor in nearly 50% of the patients, even with maximum therapy. Further research is needed to stratify patients for conservative or surgical treatment.

Spinal Epidural Lipomatosis: A Comprehensive Review

Purpose of review

This is a comprehensive review regarding the epidemiology, diagnosis, and management of spinal epidural lipomatosis (SEL).

Recent Findings

SEL is a relatively rare condition that has gained scientific relevance over the past few decades. Recent findings include expanding treatment strategies to include minimally invasive surgical techniques.

Summary

SEL is caused by an excess of adipose tissue accumulation localized to the thoracic and lumbar regions of the spine. While the exact pathogenesis is not fully elucidated, the etiology of SEL can be broadly classified based on five commonly associated risk factors; exogenous steroid use, obesity, endogenous steroid hormonal disease, spine surgery, and idiopathic disease. Progression of SEL may lead to neurological deficits, myelopathy, radiculopathy, neurogenic claudication, loss of sensation, difficulty voiding, lower extremity weakness, and rarely cauda equina syndrome. Conservative management is largely patient-specific and aimed at mitigating symptoms that arise from shared risk factors. If more advanced treatment measures are necessary, minimally invasive surgery and open surgical techniques, have proven successful.

Spinal Epidural Lipomatosis: A Review of Pathogenesis, Characteristics, Clinical Presentation, and Management

STUDY DESIGN

Narrative review of available literature.

OBJECTIVE

To summarize current trends in pathogenesis and management of spinal epidural lipomatosis (SEL) and suggest areas where more research would be of benefit.

METHODS

The available literature relevant to SEL was reviewed. PubMed, Medline, OVID, EMBASE, Cochrane, and Google Scholar were used to review the literature. Institutional review board approval is not applicable for this study.

RESULTS

This article clearly summarizes current trends in the pathogenesis and management of SEL.

CONCLUSIONS

Possible etiologies of SEL include exogenous steroid use, endogenous steroid hormonal disease, obesity, surgery induced, and idiopathic disease. Comorbidities such as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and Scheuermann's disease have also been implicated in the pathogenesis of SEL. Steroid-induced SEL seems to have a proclivity for the thoracic region of the spine and has a higher incidence of paraplegia when compared with other forms. Several treatment modalities exist for SEL and are dictated by the underlying cause of the disorder. These include weight reduction, cessation of steroid medications, treatment of underlying endocrine abnormalities, and surgical decompression. Conservative treatments generally aim to decrease the thickness of adipose tissue in the epidural space, but the majority of patients tend to undergo surgical decompression to relieve neurologic symptoms. Surgical decompression provides a statistically significant reduction in symptoms, but postoperative mortality is high, influenced primarily by the patient's preoperative comorbidities. Physicians should consider the underlying cause of SEL in a given patient before pursuing specific treatment modalities, but alarm symptoms, such as the development of acute cauda equina syndrome, should likely be treated with urgent surgical decompression.

The Clinical Characteristics of Spinal Epidural Lipomatosis in the Lumbar Spine

Background

Spinal epidural lipomatosis (SEL) is a rare disease, defined as diffuse hypertrophy of unencapsulated adipose tissue causing spinal canal compression and progressive neurologic deficits. However, there are few studies on SEL in Korea.

Objectives

The purpose of this study was to describe the prevalence and clinical characteristics of SEL in Korea.

Methods

Of the 3702 symptomatic patients (1575 males and 2127 females) who underwent lumbar spine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at the age of 20 years or older from January 2014 to December 2016, 42 patients (27 males and 15 females) diagnosed with SEL were selected. Medical records and telephone counseling were used to document sex, age, height, weight, clinical symptoms, coexistent spinal disease, accompanying diseases, and alcoholism and smoking status. One radiologist classified the severity of epidural lipomatosis into three grades from I to III according to Borre et al. We obtained four linear measurements at the axial plane parallel based in the narrowest on MRI image.

Results

The incidence of SEL in the lumbar spine was 1.1%, which was 1.71% in men and 0.7% in women. The mean age was 69.4 ± 10.9 years and the mean body mass index (BMI) was 26.4 ± 3.5 kg/m². The most common clinical symptoms were lower back pain and radiating leg pain (26 patients, 61.9%). The level of affected SEL was found to be most prevalent at L5 - S1 (21 patients, 50%). Concomitant diseases were hypertension (26 patients, 61.9%) and diabetes (12 patients, 28.5%). The most common SEL grade was type III (21 patients, 50%), followed by types II (17 patients, 40.4%) and I (4 patients, 9.5%).

Conclusions

Lumbar spine MRI at one hospital showed that the incidence of symptomatic SEL was 1.1%; SEL is common at the L5-S1 level and in male patients, and severity grade is often severe.

Occurrence of sudden paraplegia during follow-up period of thoracic vertebral compression fracture in a case with spinal epidural lipomatosis

Introduction

Spinal epidural lipomatosis (SEL) involves hypertrophy of fat tissue in the extradural space, often associated with long-term corticosteroid therapy. Sometimes it causes severe spinal cord compression and the patient gradually becomes symptomatic. However, sudden onset of neurological deterioration is extremely rare.

Case presentation

We herein present a case of sudden paraplegia in a patient with thoracic SEL at 2 months after thoracic vertebral fracture, whose symptoms were consistent with a lesion at the same level as the SEL. Computed tomography scan showed no remarkable change in the degree of vertebral fracture at the time of neurological deterioration. We performed immediate decompression surgery and found hemorrhage and granulation tissue at the level of the fracture and removed it with the epidural fat tissue. The hematoma and granulation tissue were thought to be the cause of the acute deterioration. The patient recovered gradually from the paraplegia.

Discussion

Sudden paraplegia with SEL at the time of vertebral fracture has previously been reported, but this is the first report of SEL with delayed onset of paraplegia after an initial diagnosis of coexisting vertebral fracture.

Spinal cord compression secondary to idiopathic thoracic epidural lipomatosis in an adolescent: A case report and review of literature

INTRODUCTION

Spinal epidural lipomatosis (SEL) is a rare condition that presents with progressive spinal cord or nerve root compression. It is commonly reported in patients receiving long-term exogenous steroid therapy or in patients with endogenous steroid overproduction. The occurrence of this condition as an idiopathic entity is rarely reported.

CASE PRESENTATION

The authors present the clinical course and outcome of a 16-year-old male student, who presented with progressive spastic paraparesis of a one-year duration caused by idiopathic spinal epidural lipomatosis. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study of the thoracic spine revealed marked compression of the spinal cord from a large dorsally located extradural mass extending from the T-4 to T-12 vertebral bodies. The patient underwent posterior thoracic laminoplasty from the T4 to T10 vertebral levels. He experienced gradual neurological, and he was able to walk without assistant by the end of 3-month follow-up period from surgery.

CONCLUSION

Idiopathic SEL is very rare, since no predisposing factors can be identified, and should be included in the differential diagnosis when patients present with spinal neurological compromise. MRI is the imaging modality of choice, and decompressive laminectomy and debulking of the fatty lesion is the main treatment modality in patients with progressive course of the disease..

Patient-reported outcome of surgical treatment for lumbar spinal epidural lipomatosis

BACKGROUND CONTEXT

Spinal epidural lipomatosis (SEL) is a rare condition characterized by an excessive accumulation of fat tissue in the spinal canal that can have a compressive effect, leading to clinical symptoms. This condition has a distinct pathology from spinal stenosis associated with degeneration of the intervertebral discs, ligaments, and facet joints. Several different conservative and surgical treatment strategies have been proposed for SEL, but its treatment remains controversial. There is a lack of evidence documenting the success of surgical decompression in SEL, and no previous studies have reported the postoperative outcome from the patient's perspective.

PURPOSE

The aim of the present study was to evaluate patient-rated outcome after surgical decompression in SEL.

STUDY DESIGN

A retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data was carried out.

PATIENT SAMPLE

A total of 22 patients (19 males; age: 68.2±9.9 years) who had undergone spine surgery for SEL were identified from our local Spine Surgery Outcomes Database, which includes a total of 10,028 spine surgeries recorded between 2005 and 2012. Inclusion criteria were epidural lipomatosis confirmed by preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and subsequent decompression surgery without spinal fusion.

OUTCOME MEASURES

The Core Outcome Measures Index (COMI) was used to assess patient-rated outcome. The COMI includes the domains pain (separate 0-10 scales for back and leg pain), back-specific function, symptom-specific well-being, general quality of life (QOL), work disability, and social disability.

METHODS

The questionnaires were completed preoperatively and at 3, 12, and 24 months postoperatively. Surgical data were retrieved from the patient charts and from our local Spine Surgery Outcomes Database, which we operate in connection with the International Spine Tango Registry. Differences between pre- and postoperative scores were analyzed using paired t tests and repeated measures analysis of variance.

RESULTS

At 3-months follow-up, the COMI score and scores for leg pain and back pain had improved significantly compared with their preoperative values (p<.005). The mean decrease in COMI score after 3 months was 2.6±2.4 (range: -1.3 to 6.5) points: from 7.5±1.7 (range: 3.5-10) to 4.9±2.5 (range: 0.5-9.6). A total of 11 patients (50%) had an improvement of the COMI of more than the minimal clinically important change (MCIC) score of 2.2 points. The mean decrease in leg pain after 3 months was 2.4±3.5 (-5 to 10) points. Overall, 17 patients (77.3%) reported a reduced leg pain, 12 (54.6%) of whom by at least the MCIC score of 2 points. The significant reductions from baseline in COMI and leg and back pain scores were retained up to 2 years postoperatively (p<.02). The general QOL item of the COMI improved significantly after surgery (p<.0001). Over 80% of the cohort rated their preoperative QOL as bad (n=13) or very bad (n=5), whereas 3 months after surgery, only 7 patients rated their QOL as bad, and one as very bad (36%).

CONCLUSIONS

The present study is the first to demonstrate that surgical decompression is associated with a statistically significant improvement in patient-rated outcome scores in patients with symptomatic SEL, with a clinically relevant change occurring in approximately half of them. Surgical decompression hence represents a reasonable treatment option for SEL, although the reason behind the less good response in some patients needs further investigation.

Unusual presentation of spinal lipomatosis

Spinal epidural lipomatosis (SEL) is a rare condition characterized by overgrowth of normal adipose tissue in the extradural space within the spinal canal that can lead to significant spinal cord compression. It is most commonly reported in patients receiving chronic glucocorticoid therapy. Other causes can include obesity and hypercortisolism. Occasionally, idiopathic SEL will occur in patients with no known risk factors, but cases are more generally reported in obesity and males. We present the case of a 35 year-old non-obese woman found to have rapidly progressive SEL that was not associated with any of the common causes of the disorder.

Spinal epidural lipomatosis in lumbar magnetic resonance imaging scans

The goal of this study was to quantify the frequency of advanced spinal epidural lipomatosis (SEL) detected on lumbar magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans performed at the authors' hospital and to compare the frequency, cause, and progression of SEL in these cases with that reported in the literature. The total number of MRI examinations of the lumbar spine performed at this hospital over 45 months was 1498 (705 men and 793 women; mean age, 60.3 years). After the MRI data were reduced (T1- and T2-weighted sagittal and axial images) on the basis of the exclusion criteria, the anterior and posterior diameters of the dural sac and spinal canal were measured, as well as the thickness of the epidural fat. On the basis of these parameters, the severity of SEL was classified as grade 0 to grade III. Five cases of grade III SEL were diagnosed. The frequency of grade III SEL noted in this study was 0.33% (5/1498). Obesity (body mass index greater than 27.5) was noted in 3 cases, and the use of exogenous corticosteroids was noted in 3 cases. Exogenous steroid usage associated with advanced SEL in this study was greater than that reported in the literature. Most symptoms of SEL progress slowly, and early diagnosis allows for a dose reduction of the prescribed steroids. Thus, lumbar MRI examinations should be conducted aggressively in patients with exogenous steroid use and presenting with low back pain or buttock pain.

Solitary epidural lipoma with ipsilateral facet arthritis causing lumbar radiculopathy

A 55-year-old obese man (body mass index, 31.6 kg/m²) presented radiating pain and motor weakness in the left leg. Magnetic resonance imaging showed an epidural mass posterior to the L5 vertebral body, which was isosignal to subcutaneous fat and it asymmetrically compressed the left side of the cauda equina and the exiting left L5 nerve root on the axial T1 weighted images. Severe arthritis of the left facet joint and edema of the bone marrow regarding the left pedicle were also found. As far as we know, there have been no reports concerning a solitary epidural lipoma combined with ipsilateral facet arthorsis causing lumbar radiculopathy. Solitary epidural lipoma with ipsilateral facet arthritis causing lumbar radiculopathy was removed after the failure of conservative treatment. After decompression, the neurologic deficit was relieved. At a 2 year follow-up, motor weakness had completely recovered and the patient was satisfied with the result. We recommend that a solitary epidural lipoma causing neurologic deficit should be excised at the time of diagnosis.

Spinal epidural lipomatosis: An unusual cause of relapsing and remitting paraparesis

Epidural lipomatosis is a rare entity to cause spinal cord compression and neurological deficits. This is usually associated with excess of steroids in the body either because of endogenous source as in Cushings disease or exogenous intake as in some diseases like systemic lupus erythematosus, in some endocrinopathies or in morbid obesity. But in some cases no cause has been found. Such idiopathic cases of spinal epidural lipomatosis have also been reported. Here, we report a case of idiopathic spinal epidural lipomatosis with relapsing and remitting paraparesis which is quite unusual. Treatment depends upon neurological status of the patient. We operated the patient as he had significant neurological compromise and he improved significantly.

Symptomatic spinal epidural lipomatosis with severe obesity at a young age

Symptomatic spinal epidural lipomatosis is a rare disorder characterized by overgrowth of fat in the extradural space. Most patients have an underlying endocrine disorder, such as Cushing's syndrome, or have taken exogenous steroids chronically. Although less common, obesity alone is thought to be a cause of spinal epidural lipomatosis, representing <25% of reported cases. Patients rarely become symptomatic before middle age without chronic exogenous steroid use. The usual clinical manifestations are similar to degenerative lumbar stenosis with neurogenic claudication, resulting in decreased walking and standing endurance with variable neurological deficits.This article describes 2 unique cases of spinal epidural lipomatosis, both in young patients with underlying morbid obesity who presented with acute progressive leg weakness and urinary retention. The patients had no underlying endocrinopathy, nor any history of exogenous steroid use. They underwent emergency laminectomy and removal of epidural fat, and histopathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of epidural lipomatosis. Postoperatively, the patients demonstrated significant improvement.We conducted a review of the available English literature and compared the age distribution in each group. Based on our review, our 2 patients are considerably younger than those in past reports, especially in the patient group to which the steroid was not administered. In addition, few cases exist of spinal epidural lipomatosis with acute sphincter dysfunction and paraparesis. Our cases suggest that morbid obesity can lead to juvenile spinal epidural lipomatosis with acute neurological changes.

Rapid progression of spinal epidural lipomatosis

Spinal epidural lipomatosis (SEL) is a rare but well-recognized condition. In general, the onset of its symptoms is insidious and the disease progresses slowly. We report two cases of rapid progression of SEL with no history of steroid intake in non-obese individuals after epidural steroid injection. These SEL patients developed neurologic symptoms after less than 5 months; these symptoms were confirmed to be due to SEL by serial MR images. After the debulking of the epidural fat, their symptoms improved.