Aetiology

This syndrome may be produced by compression or inflammatory disease of the spinal cord and, occasionally with vascular lesions.

Causes of Brown-Sequard syndrome include:

• trauma (the most common cause) - gunshot wounds, stab injuries, motor vehicle accidents, blunt trauma, or fractured vertebra from a fall are common mechanisms of injury
  • of all spinal cord injuries, Brown-Séquard syndrome occurs in 1% to 4% of traumatic injuries (1)
• vertebral disease
• multiple sclerosis
• angioma
• trauma
• myelitis
• post-radiation myelopathy

Reference

1. McKinley W, Santos K, Meade M, Brooke K. Incidence and outcomes of spinal cord injury clinical syndromes. J Spinal Cord Med. 2007;30(3):215-24