Diagnosis
Before diagnosing spinal cord infarction, exclude other, more common, causes of acute paraplegia, for example, Guillain-Barre syndrome, cord compression, and transverse myelitis.
Check for causes of infarction:
- arterial compression / occlusion - space occupying lesions, e.g. tumour; abscess; dissecting aneurysm; recent aortic surgery
- embolic occlusion - aortic arteriography; Caisson's disease
- small blood vessel disease - diabetes; polyarteritis nodosa; systemic lupus erythematosus; neurosyphilis, endarteritis secondary to tuberculous meningitis, pneumococcal meningitis, or other infection
- hypotension
Related pages
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