Posterior spinal artery syndrome showing marked swelling of the spinal cord: a clinico-pathological study

To describe a rare autopsy case of posterior spinal artery syndrome with marked swelling of the spinal cord, an unusually subacute onset and short clinical course.

Case report.

An 84-year-old Japanese woman presented with bilateral muscle weakness of the lower legs and sensory disturbance 1 week after head contusion. Neurological findings worsened gradually. She developed phrenic nerve paralysis and died of respiratory failure 6 weeks after the onset of neurological symptoms. On pathological examination, the spinal cord was markedly swollen in the cervical and upper thoracic segments. Microscopically, there was loss of myelin sheath in the bilateral posterior columns and neuronal loss of the posterior horns in all of the spinal segments. However, findings were unremarkable in the bilateral anterior columns and bilateral anterior horns in most of the spinal segments. Posterior spinal arteries had no stenosis, occlusion, or thrombosis. We considered that pathogenesis was infarction associated with head injury.

To our knowledge, this is the first report of a case of posterior spinal artery syndrome with a markedly swollen spinal cord and poor prognosis.