Spinal cavernous angioma producing subarachnoid hemorrhage. Case report.

A case of subarachnoid hemorrhage due to intramedullary cavernous angioma at the T9 level is presented. Literature dealing with subarachnoid hemorrhage due to intraspinal lesions is reviewed. The majority of cases of spinal subarachnoid hemorrhage are due to arteriovenous malformations, whereas bleeding by cavernous angioma is extremely rare. The subarachnoid hemorrhage is rare event (1.8%) in our series too. The clinical presentation of severe back pain with radicular component associated with signs of meningism (Fincher's syndrome) led us to carry out magnetic resonance imaging. This gave accurate diagnosis for surgical treatment. Laminectomy at T9-T10 level and total microsurgical removal of the vascular malformation were performed with total functional recovery.