Abscess of the spinal cord is by no means as common as is abscess of the brain. This is evident from a survey of the cases in the literature and the fact that most textbooks of neurology omit the subject entirely or mention it only briefly in passing. Abscess of the spinal cord is not, however, an unknown or a new disease entity. A careful search through the literature revealed that probably the first description of this condition was published as early as 1830.1 Since that time 39, or possibly 40, reports2 have appeared (table 1). In 1926 Woltman and Adson3 summarized the data in 29 cases which had been described in the literature and added 1 case of their own. Since then, 9 other cases have been reported.
CLASSIFICATION
Abscesses involving the spinal cord may be conveniently classified according to location. They may be outside the