Table 1.

A summary presentation of the reviewed cases

Case	Sex/age	Prior surgery	Preoperative symptoms	Years after surgery	Described treatment of pseudomeningocele	Outcome	Follow-up
Rosenblum and DeRow [13]	F/49	Herniated disc	Intermittent foot drop and pain, exacerbated	22 years	Removal of the cystic area	N/A	N/A
Nash et al. [10]	F/46	Bilateral exploration of L3,L4;L4,L5; L5,S1 interspaces	Recurrence of LBP	6 months	Removal of dural sac after longitudinal incision thereafter dural reapproximation	Improved	N/A
Carollo et al. [3]	F/38	Herniated disc	Recurrence of bilateral pain at S1-S5	1 year 10 months	Radical removal of calcified extradural cyst. A small fistula was accurately closed	Free of pain	10 months
Schumacher et al. [15]	M/43	Herniated disc	Recurrent pain at L4 right side	4 years 1 month	Total resection of pseudomeningocele and closure of fistula	Free of symptoms	N/A
Shifrin et al. [17]	F/60	LBP surgery	Progressive LBP and bilateral leg pain. Reduced walking to 20 m distance due to paresthesia and weakness	8 years	Complete laminectomies, partial facetectomies and root decompression from L2 to sacrum. Cyst removal and closure of fistula by a purse-string suture and sealed with a free fat graft sutured over the repair. A large fat graft was placed on the dura and securely closing of overlying muscles	Able to walk unlimited distances with minimal discomfort	1 year
Tsuji et al. [19]	M/60	Herniated disc	Reappearance of pain in lower back and right leg	6 years 6 months	Pseudocyst removal, recurrent extruded disc material compressing the right S1 nerve removed followed by autologous free fat grafting	Occasional slight pain in left leg	6 years
Shimazaki et al. [18]	M/68	Spinal canal stenosis	Recurrence of LBP and intermittent claudication. Back pain when in supine position	10 years 8 months	Dorsomedial incision extending from L3 to S1 with removal of pseudomeningocele. To enter the cyst air drill was used. Artificial dura applied to defect	Free of symptoms	1 year
Lee et al. [9]	M/69	Laminectomy and discectomy for leg pain	Increasing back and left leg pain over 10 months	11 years	The pseudomeningocele was entered with a rongeur and removed. A partial laminectomy from L5 to L3 and at L5/S1 an extruded disc was removed. Dural defect was sutured interrupted	Free of symptoms	11 months
Saito et al. [14]	M/45	Herniated disc	Gradually worsening pain in left leg, eventually difficulties standing and walking	19 years	Removal of ossified cyst entered with a chisel. Detached from dura without any dural defect noted. A medial facetectomy was also performed and nerve roots confirmed intact	Free of pain	1 year
Ishaque et al. [7]	M/70	Degenerative Spondylolisthesis	Sudden severe back and leg pain and leg weakness. Progression to bilateral L5 weakness and bilateral sciatica	5 years	Removal of pseudomeningocele with micro dissection technique around the nerve roots. L4 and L5 nerve roots decompressed completely. A dural patch of fat, Tisseel and surgicel was used to close the dural defect. Lumbar fixation was also performed	Immediate pain reduction	N/A
Ishaque et al. [7]	M/45	LBP and Sciatica	Episode of sciatica	19 years	The communication between dura and the pseudomeningocele was repaired with fat, Tisseel and Surgicel. A lumbar CSF drain was placed for 5 days	N/A	N/A
Al-Edrus et al. [1]	F/48	Removal of benign lumbar nerve root lesion	Progressive neurogenic claudication over 1 year. Minimal weakness and urge incontinence	18 years	Careful dissection of the pseudomeningocele after decompressing it with a puncture. The dural defect was plugged with fat and tissue glue applied (personal communication)	Significant improvement	N/A (1 year)
Youssef et al. [20]	F/41	Herniated disc	Diffuse back pain	11 years	No surgery performed	Diffuse back pain unchanged	23 years