A 1994 community-based study indicated that two out of every 100,000 people suffered from SCSFLS, while a 2004 emergency room-based study indicated five per 100,000. SCSFLS generally affects the young and middle aged; the average age for onset is 42.3 years, but onset can range from ages 22 to 61. In an 11-year study women were found to be twice as likely to be affected as men.

Studies have shown that SCSFLS runs in families and it is suspected that genetic similarity in families includes weakness in the dura mater, which leads to SCSFLS. Large scale population-based studies have not yet been conducted. While a majority of SCSFLS cases continue to be undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, an actual increase in occurrence is unlikely.

Spinal epidural abscess (SEA) is a collection of pus or inflammatory granulation between the dura mater and the vertebral column. Currently the annual incidence rate of SEAs is estimated to be 2.5-3 per 10,000 hospital admissions. Incidence of SEA is on the rise, due to factors such as an aging population, increase in use of invasive spinal instrumentation, growing number of patients with risk factors such as diabetes and intravenous drug use. SEAs are more common in posterior than anterior areas, and the most common location is the thoracolumbar area, where epidural space is larger and contains more fat tissue.

SEAs are more common in males, and can occur in all ages, although highest prevalence is during the fifth and seventh decades of life.

It is unclear as of 2014 if ursodeoxycholic acid is useful for those with cystic fibrosis-related liver disease.

The prognosis for cystic fibrosis has improved due to earlier diagnosis through screening and better treatment and access to health care. In 1959, the median age of survival of children with CF in the United States was six months. In 2010, survival is estimated to be 37 years for women and 40 for men. In Canada, median survival increased from 24 years in 1982 to 47.7 in 2007.

In the US, of those with CF who are more than 18 years old as of 2009, 92% had graduated from high school, 67% had at least some college education, 15% were disabled, 9% were unemployed, 56% were single, and 39% were married or living with a partner.

An epidural abscess refers to a collection of pus and infectious material located in the epidural space of the central nervous system. Due to its location adjacent to brain or spinal cord, epidural abscesses have the potential to cause weakness, pain, and paralysis.

A spontaneous CSF leak is idiopathic, meaning the cause in unknown. Various scientists and physicians have suggested that this condition may be the result of an underlying connective tissue disorder affecting the spinal dura. It may also run in families and be associated with aortic aneurysms and joint hypermobility. Up to two thirds of those afflicted demonstrate some type of generalized connective tissue disorder. Marfan syndrome, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease are the three most common connective tissue disorders associated with SCSFLS.

Roughly 20% of patients with SCSFLS exhibit features of Marfan syndrome, including tall stature, hollowed chest (pectus excavatum), joint hypermobility and arched palate. However these patients do not exhibit any other Marfan syndrome presentations.

Factors increasing the risk of a subdural hematoma include very young or very old age. As the brain shrinks with age, the subdural space enlarges and the veins that traverse the space must travel over a wider distance, making them more vulnerable to tears. This and the fact that the elderly have more brittle veins make chronic subdural bleeds more common in older patients. Infants, too, have larger subdural spaces and are more predisposed to subdural bleeds than are young adults. For this reason, subdural hematoma is a common finding in shaken baby syndrome. In juveniles, an arachnoid cyst is a risk factor for a subdural hematoma.

Other risk factors for subdural bleeds include taking blood thinners (anticoagulants), long-term alcohol abuse, dementia, and the presence of a cerebrospinal fluid leak.

The anatomy of the epidural space is such that spinal epidural hematoma has a different presentation from intracranial epidural hematoma. In the spine, the epidural space contains loose fatty tissue and a network of large, thin-walled veins, referred to as the epidural venous plexus. The source of bleeding in spinal epidural hematoma is likely to be this venous plexus.

A cerebrospinal fluid leak (CSFL) is a medical condition where the cerebrospinal fluid(CSF) in the brain leaks out of the dura mater. This can be due to a spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid leak or result from different causes such as a lumbar puncture or physical trauma. While high CSF pressure can make lying down unbearable, low CSF pressure due to a leak can be relieved by lying flat on the back.

The most common symptoms of a CSFL is extremely high pressure in the head when sitting, standing, or bending down which can be lessened by laying down flat.

A myelogram can be used to help identify a CSFL by injecting a dye to further enhance the imaging allowing the location of the leak to be found. If it is a slow leak it may not appear on a single myelogram so more than one may be needed. Due to the ease of the procedure no anesthesia is used however a local anesthetic is given.

An epidural blood patch is the normal treatment for a CSFL, the patient's blood is drawn and it is then injected into the lumbar spine. Patients are told to lie flat without moving from 2 to 24 hours after the blood patch is done. A blood patch can be used to patch a CSFL in the cervical neck although it is rare for it to be done in that location, though it may take more than one blood patch to fully close the leak. Anesthesia is also uncommon for blood patch procedures. If you have a low pain tolerance it would be a good idea to have anesthesia for all of the procedures.

If the leak is strong or fast, the loss of CSF fluid can cause the brain to drop inside the skull due to the body's inability to replenish the CSF fluid at a quick enough pace, which would show up on a MRI of the brain. This is called a Chiari malformation where the brain is lower in the skull almost in the spinal canal.

Arachnoiditis is a chronic disorder with no known cure, and prognosis may be hard to determine because of an unclear correlation between the beginning of the disease and the appearance of symptoms. For many, arachnoiditis is a disabling disease that causes chronic pain and neurological deficits, and may also lead to other spinal cord conditions, such as syringomyelia.

Spinal epidural hematoma is bleeding into the epidural space in the spine. These may arise spontaneously (e.g. during childbirth), or as a rare complication of epiduralanaesthesia or of surgery (such as laminectomy). Symptoms usually include back pain which radiates to the arms or the legs. They may cause pressure on the spinal cord or cauda equina, which may present as pain, muscle weakness, or dysfunction of the bladder and bowel.

The best way to confirm the diagnosis is MRI. Risk factors include anatomical abnormalities and bleeding disorders.

Treatment is generally with emergency surgery. The risk following epidural anaesthesia is difficult to quantify; estimates vary from 1 per 10,000 to 1 per 100,000 epidural anaesthetics.

Subdural hematomas are most often caused by head injury, when rapidly changing velocities within the skull may stretch and tear small bridging veins. Subdural hematomas due to head injury are described as traumatic. Much more common than epidural hemorrhages, subdural hemorrhages generally result from shearing injuries due to various rotational or linear forces. Subdural hemorrhage is a classic finding in shaken baby syndrome, in which similar shearing forces classically cause intra- and pre-retinal hemorrhages. Subdural hematoma is also commonly seen in the elderly and in alcoholics, who have evidence of cerebral atrophy. Cerebral atrophy increases the length the bridging veins have to traverse between the two meningeal layers, hence increasing the likelihood of shearing forces causing a tear. It is also more common in patients on anticoagulants or antiplatelet drugs, such as warfarin and aspirin. Patients on these medications can have a subdural hematoma after a relatively minor traumatic event.

A further cause can be a reduction in cerebral spinal fluid pressure which can create a low pressure in the subarachnoid space, pulling the arachnoid away from the dura mater and leading to a rupture of the blood vessels.

Traumatic pneumorrhachis is a medical condition in which air has entered the spinal canal.

Traumatic pneumorrhachis is very rare phenomenon. Only eight cases with pneumorrhachis extending to more than one spinal region had been reported in the literature. Gordon had initially described the phenomenon of intraspinal air. The term "pneumorrhachis" was used for the first time by Newbold et al. The two subtypes of pneumorrhachis, which includes epidural or subarachnoid, are difficult to distinguish even with CT scanning. However, the presence of pneumocephalus goes more in favor of subarachnoid subtype. Goh and Yeo in their study have reported that the epidural pneumorrhachis is self-limited, whereas the more common subarachnoid pneumorrhachis type may be complicated by tension pneumocephalus and meningitis. Traumatic subarachnoid pneumorrhachis is almost always secondary to major trauma and is a marker of a severe injury. The pathophysiology described for it states that the penetrated air, which had led to the formation of pneumocephalus might have been forced caudally due to the raised intracranial pressure as a consequence of severe brain injury and patient's horizontal position allowing the entrapped air to pass through the foramen magnum into the spinal canal. Due to its rareness, asymptomatic presentation and myriad etiologies, no guidelines for its treatment or care has been described. Pneumorrhachis typically resolves spontaneously but occasionally it can have serious complications. Patient with subarachnoid pneumorrhachis should be treated meticulously and a temporary lumbar drainage may be required if they have concomitant cerebro-spinal fluid leak.

Treatment generally consists of surgical drainage, and long-term (6 to 8 weeks) use of antibiotics.

Mediastinal fibrosis most common cause is idiopathic mediastinal fibrosis; less commonly histoplasmosis tuberculosis or unknown. It is characterized by invasive, calcified fibrosis centered on lymph nodes that block major vessels and airways. In Europe, this disease is exceptionally rare. More cases are seen

in USA where the disease may often be associated with histoplasmosis.

There is debate as to the cause, although hematogenous seeding of the offending organism is favored as well as direct spread. It is important to differentiate between spontaneous discitis which is usually from hematologic spread from a urinary or respiratory infection versus that from a post-operative complication which usually involves skin flora such as staph aureus.

It can be caused due to spinal tuberculosis and spread along spinal ligament to involve the adjacent anterior vertebral bodies, causing angulation of the vertebrae with subsequent kyphosis.

The cause may be aseptic.

Pott's puffy tumor, first described by Sir Percivall Pott in 1760, is a rare clinical entity characterized by subperiosteal abscess associated with osteomyelitis. It is characterized by an osteomyelitis of the frontal bone, either direct or through haematogenic spread. This results in a swelling on the forehead, hence the name. The infection can also spread inwards, leading to an intracranial abscess. Pott's puffy tumor can be associated with cortical vein thrombosis, epidural abscess, subdural empyema, and brain abscess. The cause of vein thrombosis is explained by venous drainage of the frontal sinus, which occurs through diploic veins, which communicate with the dural venous plexus; septic thrombi can potentially evolve from foci within the frontal sinus and propagate through this venous system. This type of chronic osteomyelitis of the frontal bone is confused with acute sub-periosteal abscess of the frontal bone, which presents as a discrete collection over the frontal sinus.

Although it can affect all ages, it is mostly found among teenagers and adolescents. It is usually seen as a complication of frontal sinusitis or trauma. Medical imaging can be of use in the diagnosis and evaluation of the underlying cause and extent of the condition. Ultrasound is able to identify frontal bone osteomyelitis, while computed tomography (CT) can evaluate bony erosion, and along with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), can better appreciate the underlying cause and extent of possible intra-cranial extension/involvement.

In the absence of severe urinary tract obstruction (which generally requires surgery with omental wrapping), treatment is generally with glucocorticoids initially, followed by DMARDs either as steroid-sparing agents or if refractory on steroids. The SERM tamoxifen has shown to improve the condition in various small trials, although the exact mechanism of its action remains unclear.

Associations include:

- Riedel's thyroiditis

- previous radiotherapy

- sarcoidosis

- inflammatory abdominal aortic aneurysm

- drugs

CFTR has been a drug target in efforts to find treatments for related conditions. Ivacaftor (trade name Kalydeco, developed as VX-770) is a drug approved by the FDA in 2012 for people with cystic fibrosis who have specific CFTR mutations Ivacaftor was developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals in conjunction with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and is the first drug that treats the underlying cause rather than the symptoms of the disease. Called "the most important new drug of 2012", and "a wonder drug" it is one of the most expensive drugs, costing over US$300,000 per year, which has led to criticism of Vertex for the high cost.

The root cause of the condition is not entirely clear, and it appears to have multiple causes, including iatrogenic cause from misplaced epidural steroid injection therapy when accidentally administered intrathecally (inside the dura mater, the sac enveloping the arachnoid mater), or from contrast media used in myelography prior to the introduction of Metrizamide. Other noninfectious inflammatory processes include surgery, intrathecal hemorrhage, and the administration of anesthetics (e.g. chloroprocaine), and steroids (e.g. prednisolone, triamcinolone acetonide). A variety of other causes exist, including infectious, inflammatory, and neoplastic processes. Infectious causes include bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic agents. Prior spinal surgery has been documented as a cause of "arachnoiditis ossificans", as well as for the adhesive form. It can also be caused by long term pressure from either a severe disc herniation or spinal stenosis.

Fibrothorax is diffuse fibrosis of the pleural space surrounding the lungs. It can have several causes including hemothorax, pleural effusion and tuberculosis. It may also be induced by exposure to certain substances, as with asbestos-induced diffuse pleural fibrosis. Idiopathic fibrothorax may also occur.

In fibrothorax, scar tissue is formed around the visceral pleura following inflammation due to pleural effusion or other pathology. The scar tissue lies in a sheet between the pleura, then fuses with the parietal pleura and the chest wall. Over time, generally the course of years, the fibrotic scar tissue slowly tightens, which results in the contraction of the entire hemithorax, and leaves the ribs immobilized. Within the chest, the lung is compressed and unable to expand, making it vulnerable to collapse. At the microscopic level, the scar tissue is composed of collagen fibers deposited in a basket weave pattern. The treatment for fibrothorax is decortication, the surgical removal of the fibrous layer of scar tissue. However, since many of the diseases and conditions resulting in fibrothorax are treatable, prevention remains the preferred method of managing fibrothorax.

The epidemiology of Idiopathic sclerosing mesenteritis disease is extremely rare and has only been diagnosed in about an estimated 300 patients worldwide to date (as of 2014), it is probably under diagnosed.

It can occur in children.

Commonly by bacteria – streptococci, spore and non-spore forming anaerobes, etc.

Factors affecting the development of phlegmons are virulence of bacteria and immunity strength.

Systemic features of infection such as increased body temperature (up to 38-40 °C), general fatigue, chills, sweatings, headache, loss of appetite).

Inflammatory signs – dolor (localized pain), calor (increase local tissue temperature), rubor (skin redness/hyperemia), tumor (either clear or non-clear bordered tissue swelling), functio laesa (diminish affected function).

NB: severity of patient condition with phlegmons is directly proportional to the degree of intoxication level i.e. the more severe the condition, the higher the degree of intoxication level.

A noninfectious occurrence of phlegmon can be found in the acute pancreatitis of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. The immunosuppressive aspects of this disease and the immunosuppressive medications used to treat it blunt each of the signs of infection.

Regardless of cause, UIP is relentlessly progressive, usually leading to respiratory failure and death without a lung transplant. Some patients do well for a prolonged period of time, but then deteriorate rapidly because of a superimposed acute illness (so-called "accelerated UIP"). The outlook for long-term survival is poor. In most studies, the median survival is 3 to 4 years. Patients with UIP in the setting of rheumatoid arthritis have a slightly better prognosis than UIP without a known cause (IPF).