Anterior spinal cord infarction caused by fibrocartilaginous embolism

Fibrocartilaginous embolism is a rare cause of anterior spinal cord infarction. We report a case of anterior spinal cord infarction caused by a fibrocartilaginous embolism of 3 months duration in a 23-year-old man. Ten days after a trivial strike to the neck and back, he had sudden back pain, weakness of the upper and lower extremities, developed dyspnea and became unconscious. Cervical MRI showed an enlargement of the lower medulla and cervical cord with abnormal signals in the ventral portion. The follow-up MRI performed 2 months later showed atrophy of the above lesion. On histopathological examination, there was a recent, extensive infarct in the cervical cord and lower medulla. The lesion was symmetrical, and predominantly involved the anterior part of the spinal cord. Moreover, many basophilic, alcian blue-positive emboli in the arteries and veins of the lesion were detected. This is the first autopsy case of anterior spinal cord infarction caused by a fibrocartilaginous embolism that has been confirmed in China. The clinicopathological features of this case are reviewed in this paper.