Spinal cord ischemia

Spinal cord ischemia frequently affects the lower part of the dorsal spinal cord. Our study highlighted rare etiologies of MI such as surfer's myelopathy systemic lupus erythematosus and post-VZV vasculitis. Even with a full etiological work-up the cause may remain undetermined in a quarter of cases. We emphasize the contribution of diffusion MRI and the search for intrathecal synthesis. Treatment in our study was essentially etiological. Currently treatment is based on control of hemodynamic parameters with vasopressors and CSF drainage. Thrombolysis has been reported in the literature within 6 hours of onset of symptoms. We noted an improvement in 66.66% of patients even at a distance from the acute episode prompting clinical follow-up. The main poor prognostic factors in our study were the extent of motor deficits during the first 24 hours and the absence of improvement after the acute phase as well as advanced age and of course the severity of the underlying etiology.