Cervical cord atrophy--a pattern of presentation

This paper introduces the concept of veno-occlusive disease of the upper cervical cord by way of clinical report on 7 patients in whom a remarkable sequence of clinical events was encountered, commencing with weakness of an upper limb, followed by similar symptoms in the ipsilateral lower limb, the contralateral lower limb and finally the contralateral upper limb. In each patient there was wasting of the small muscles of both hands due to a lower motor neuron lesion at a level of the eighth cervical segment. In each case a tumour in the region of the foramen magnum was excluded.