Spinal cord compression by extradural fat after prolonged corticosteroid therapy.

This young man was operated on twice for thoracic spinal cord compression. He had been on corticosteroid therapy for the last 2 years subsequent to a renal transplant. The only anomaly discovered during the operation was a large quantity of extradural fat that did not present the characteristics of lipoma. The remarkable postoperative clinical improvement suggested that the fat deposit was responsible for the spinal cord compression.