[Anterior spinal artery syndrome due to cervical spondylosis presenting as cervical angina]

A 54-year-old woman developed acute progressive paraparesis after repeated precordial pain. Neurological examination revealed bilateral four-limb weakness predominant in the distal part of the upper limbs, upper limbs brisk tendon reflexes, superficial sensory impairment below the C8 level, and atonic bladder. T2-weighted cervical MRI disclosed hyperintense lesion with disc herniation in gray matter of spinal cord between C5 and C7. No vertebral artery abnormalities were detected. We hypothesized that she developed anterior spinal artery syndrome after cervical angina caused by cervical spondylosis. We conclude that physicians need to be aware of patients who experience chest pain without evidence of cardiac disease and that they take into consideration spinal cord infarction.