Takahashi Toshiyuki, Tominaga Teiji, Shamoto Hiroshi, Shimizu Hiroaki, Yoshimoto Takashi
Department of Neurosurgery, Kohnan Hospital, Sendai, Japan.
Surg Neurol. 2002 Sep-Oct;58(3-4):214-6; discussion 216-7. doi: 10.1016/s0090-3019(02)00837-6.
Vertebral fracture caused solely by a convulsive seizure has rarely been reported in the neurosurgical literature.
We describe a 34-year-old male with severe back pain from a thoracic fracture occurring in association with a seizure during hospitalization for treatment of temporal lobe epilepsy. Bone mineral densities in the lumbar spine and the femoral neck were decreased, possibly by long-term anti-epileptic medication. Muscle contractions during a seizure can result in vertebral fractures, especially at the thoracic levels.
A complaint of back pain after a convulsive seizure should prompt radiologic investigation for vertebral fracture, even in the absence of external trauma.
