{"id":"8b029eb0-5c36-4f43-8b7c-5fcef586e6b2","slug":"engorged-venous-plexus-mimicking-adjacent-segment-disease-case-report-and-review-of-the-literature","title":"Engorged venous plexus mimicking adjacent segment disease: Case report and review of the literature","authors":["Omron Hassan","Courtney S. Lewis","Likitha Aradhyula","Brian R. Hirshman","Martin H. Pham"],"abstract":"Background: An engorged venous plexus may mimic nerve compression from a herniated disk on the magnetic resonance (MR) studies as they both have similar signal intensities. During a laminectomy, if an engorged venous plexus is encountered instead of a disk herniation, there may be marked unanticipated bleeding. Case Description: A 58-year-old female who had a prior anterior lumbar interbody fusion later returned with recurrent radiculopathy. Adjacent segment disease from a spinal disk herniation was suspected based on the surgical history, physical examination, and imaging (MRI) findings. Rather than a disk, an engorged venous plexuses (EVP) was encountered intraoperatively. Conclusion: Here, we discussed our findings regarding a lumbar EVP rather than a herniated disk and reviewed the current literature. Although rare, a higher index of suspicion for these vascular malformations based on combined historical information and MRI studies should allow one to better detect and/or anticipate an EVP rather than a routine disk.","thumbnailUrl":"https://sni-digital-videos.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/8b029eb0-5c36-4f43-8b7c-5fcef586e6b2/featured/hero-1781563486442.png","publishDate":"2020-05-09T00:00:00.000Z","doi":"10.25259/SNI_166_2020","categories":["Spine","Case Report"],"fullTextUrl":"https://surgicalneurologyint.com/api/articles/8b029eb0-5c36-4f43-8b7c-5fcef586e6b2/pdf"}