Wakerley Benjamin, Kent Louisa, Jackson Matthew
Department of Neurology, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK.
J Asthma. 2011 Apr;48(3):316-8. doi: 10.3109/02770903.2011.554946. Epub 2011 Feb 22.
Long-term immunosuppression with oral corticosteroids is frequently used to treat inflammatory diseases of the lung and is advocated in the management of some patients with asthma.
The authors describe the case of a 35-year-old man with severe refractory asthma who developed a slowly progressive thoracic spinal cord syndrome.
Spinal imaging demonstrated the presence of spinal epidural lipomatosis, a rare complication of prolonged corticosteroid therapy, which is characterized by overgrowth of fat in the epidural space and neuronal compression.
Spinal epidural lipomatosis should be considered in patients receiving long-term corticosteroid therapy who develop symptoms and signs suggestive of spinal cord compression.
长期口服皮质类固醇进行免疫抑制常用于治疗肺部炎症性疾病，并且在一些哮喘患者的管理中也被提倡使用。
作者描述了一名35岁患有严重难治性哮喘的男性患者，该患者出现了缓慢进展的胸段脊髓综合征。
脊柱成像显示存在脊髓硬膜外脂肪增多症，这是长期皮质类固醇治疗的一种罕见并发症，其特征是硬膜外间隙脂肪过度生长和神经元受压。
对于接受长期皮质类固醇治疗且出现提示脊髓受压症状和体征的患者，应考虑脊髓硬膜外脂肪增多症。
