Primary epiduritis

An infant, born with multiple anomalies of the gastrointestinal tract, required intravenous hyperalimentation for virtually his entire life. His course was characterized by multiple episodes of sepsis or phlebitis, culminating in death five and one-half months after birth. The brain and spinal cord at necropsy were normal on gross inspection. However, microscopic study showed inflammation of the dura surrounding the spinal cord with sparing of the spinal and cerebral subarachnoid spaces. This unusual lesion, which we call spinal epiduritis, is probably a rare complication of sepsis or phlebitis, but the precise pathogenesis was not established.