Spinal epidural abscess: an unusual complication of a duodenal ulcer.

A 50-year-old man had several months of progressively worse low-back pain associated with constitutional symptoms and a history of retroperitoneal tumor and bleeding duodenal ulcer. Initial evaluation suggested a lumbar spine tumor, but myelography confirmed the presence of an epidural abscess. Further evaluation revealed a duodeno-spinal fistula at the site of the previous duodenal ulcer, which proved to be the cause of the abscess.