Ligamentum flavum hematomas: Why does it mostly occur in old Asian males? Interesting point of reported cases: Review and case report

• Main Authors: Bulent Ozdemir, Ayhan Kanat, Osman Ersegun Batcik, Hasan Gucer, Coskun Yolas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2016-01-01
• Series: Journal of Craniovertebral Junction and Spine
• Subjects: Hematoma; ligamentum; ligamentum flavum (LF)
• Online Access: http://www.jcvjs.com/article.asp?issn=0974-8237;year=2016;volume=7;issue=1;spage=7;epage=12;aulast=Ozdemir

Hematoma of the ligamentum flavum (LF) is a rare cause of neural compression and sciatica. Currently, the etiology and epidemiological characteristics of ligamentum flavum hematoma (LFH) are unknown and epidemiological investigations using rewieving of reported cases have not been performed. We report the case of a 63-year-old man with a LFH compressing the spinal canal at the left L2-L3 level, rewieved relevant literature. In Medline research, wefound a total of 50 reported cases with LFHs, and the interesting point of these cases were analyzed. Many of cases were old males. Interestingly, 39 of the 50 cases were reported from Asian countries. The ages of 42 patients could be verified. The youngest age was 45 years, oldest age was 81 years, and mean age was 66.07 years. Thirty-three out of these 42 patients (78.53%) were older than 60 years. An important aspect of the present review is to bring attention for occurrence in older Asian males. With an increasing number of elderly people in the general population, there is a need to investigate risk factors such as sexual gender, age, and geographic location for LFH.