Background: "White cord syndrome" is a very rare condition thought to be due to acute reperfusion of chronically ischemic areas of the spinal cord. Its hallmark is the presence of intramedullary hyperintense signal on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging sequences in a patient with unexplained neurologic deficits following spinal cord decompression surgery. The syndrome is rare and has been reported previously in 2 patients following anterior cervical decompression and fusion. We report an additional case of this complication.
Case description: A 68-year-old man developed acute left-sided hemiparesis after posterior cervical decompression and fusion for cervical spondylotic myelopathy. The patient improved with high-dose steroid therapy.
Conclusions: The rare white cord syndrome following either anterior cervical decompression and fusion or posterior cervical decompression and fusion may be due to ischemic-reperfusion injury sustained by chronically compressed parts of the spinal cord. In previous reports, patients have improved following steroid therapy and acute rehabilitation.
Keywords: Cervical decompression; Reperfusion injury; White cord syndrome.
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