title: Subacute posttraumatic ascending myelopathy: A case report and review of literature.
abstract: Subacute posttraumatic ascending myelopathy is a rare disorder, unrelated to syrinx formation or mechanical instability, which may gradually emerge within the first 1-2 weeks after a spinal cord injury and may lead to diagnostic and prognostic dilemmas. We present a case of 24-year-old female with unstable wedge compression fracture of L1 vertebrae with signal changes in the upper lumbar cord causing complete paraplegia below D9 with bladder and bowel involvement. In the subsequent week, she developed a delayed progressively increasing neurological deficit with cord signal abnormality on MRI extending cephalad from the injury site to the upper dorsal cord. The patient had no initial clinical improvement initially but showed a delayed recovery over months.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Maulana Azad Medical College and Associated Hospitals, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Mukul
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mohindra
authors.forename: V-K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Gautam
authors.forename: Lalit
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Maini
authors.forename: Santosh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Saurabh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Verma
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D013118:Spinal Cord Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000150:complications*; D016103:Spinal Fractures / Q000150:complications*