title: Paraplegia due to spinal cord infarction following cardiac surgery.
abstract: Paraplegia is an extremely rare complication following any surgery, especially cardiac surgery. The underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood and even though spinal infarction has been reported previously, it is almost always associated with the use of intra-aortic balloon pump. We report the clinical case of a 75 year-old male, who developed paraplegia secondary to spinal infarction, following cardiac surgery (coronary artery bypass grafting and aortic valve replacement) in whom the intra-aortic balloon pump was not used and few other predisposing factors were present that could anticipate that complication.
authors.affiliation: Serviço de Cirurgia Cardiotorácica do Centro Hospitalar de Vila Nova de Gaia / Espinho, Portugal.
authors.forename: João Pedro
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Monteiro
authors.forename: Diogo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rijo
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.forename: Rodolfo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ferraz
authors.forename: Tiago
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vaz
authors.forename: Luís
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vouga
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guerra