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Meningoceles not associated with spina bifida occur very rarely. A review of the literature for the years 1920-1946 disclosed reports of only three cases in which the meningocele originated from the lateral aspect of the spine. Pohl (5) in 1933 reported the occurrence of an intrathoracic meningocele in a 47-year-old female patient. Surgery revealed a large cyst containing spinal fluid which communicated with the spinal canal through a 2-cm. opening. Death followed a complicating empyema, and necropsy disclosed some widening of the bony spinal canal at the level of the fourth dorsal vertebra, and a communication with the cyst through a "walnut-sized" opening at the intervertebral foramen between the third and fourth thoracic vertebrae. A synostosis of the third dorsal vertebra was also demonstrated. Ameuille, Wilmoth, and Kudelski (1) reported a similar case of intrathoracic meningocele in 1940. They described a large lobulated meningocele about 80 mm. in diameter located in the right lower chest posteriorly. Communication with the intraspinal meninges took place by way of a defect that involved "the pedicle and part of the bodies of D-8 and D-9." In addition, there was a moderate kyphos of the lower dorsal region produced by a wedge-shaped deformity of D-9, D-10, and D-11. Recently, in 1947, Pendergrass, Walker, and Bond (4) reported a case of extraspinal lumbar meningocele in a 32-year-old colored soldier who complained of back pain, headache when bending over and suddenly straightening up, and a mass in the left groin. He gave a history of a crushing injury to the back one year previously. The mass was aspirated, and air injected into the cyst was subsequently observed within the cranium on films of the skull. Myelography with pantopaque demonstrated a communication between the cyst and the subarachnoid space through the twelfth intervertebral foramen. Extraspinal closure of the communication failed, but at a second operation, an intraspinal approach resulted in a cure. The sac itself was not removed. At operation the spinous process of the twelfth dorsal vertebra was found to be poorly developed, and the laminae of the first lumbar vertebra were fused. These authors felt that the previous trauma was of little etiologic significance. The case of lateral intrathoracic meningocele to be recorded here was discovered incidentally by one of us (G. W. S.) on a routine chest film made prior to separation of the patient from military service. Case Report In November 1944, a 21-year-old soldier was riding in front of a weapons carrier, which was side-swiped by another vehicle. The patient's right arm was caught between the two vehicles and he promptly lost consciousness. A tourniquet was applied, and upon evacuation, the patient was found to have a compound, comminuted fracture at the junction of the middle and lower thirds of the right humerus. The wound was débrided and a shoulder spica was applied.