Lumbar pain with intracranial origin.

A 48-year-old woman presented low-back pain radiating to the lower right leg. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the lumbar spine revealed a L4-L5 subacute subdural hematoma (SDH). The patient had no general or local cause for this lumbar SDH, such as coagulation disorder, trauma, surgery, or lumbar puncture. She had a history of post-traumatic bilateral hemorrhagic contusions of the brain and intracranial SDH because of a fall occurring several months before the current problems. A downward migration of the cerebral SDH was found as only potential explanation of the lumbar SDH. The association between the intracranial and spinal hematomas is discussed.