A case of pediatric thoracic SCIWORA following minor trauma.
METHODS
A case of spinal cord injury without radiological abnormality (SCIWORA) at the thoracic level is reported. A 14-year-old girl fell backwards from a low chair and hit her back on the floor. It left her bent forward markedly. After taking a nap, she found herself unable to walk. Neurological examination revealed flaccid paraparesis, hypalgesia below the L-1 level, and bladder and bowel dysfunction. MR imaging revealed marked edema in the thoracic spinal cord.


CONCLUSIONS
The patient was treated conservatively and showed gradual improvement in her symptoms, finally becoming independently ambulant. The spinal cord edema was less pronounced on the follow-up MR imaging. The clinical course and findings of MR imaging in this case demonstrated mid-thoracic SCIWORA caused by hyperflexion of the thoracic spine.
Yamaguchi
Satoshi
S
Department of Neurosurgery, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, North 15, West 7, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-8638, Japan. satoyama@lime.ocn.ne.jp
Hida
Kazutoshi
K
Akino
Minoru
M
Yano
Shunsuke
S
Saito
Hisatoshi
H
Iwasaki
Yoshinobu
Y
D000293:Adolescent; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D020335:Paraparesis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae