Spinal ischemic stroke following dialysis: clinical and radiologic findings

Abstract

Spinal cord ischemia (SCI) is a relatively common cause of noncompressive myelopathy.1 SCI frequently involves the thoracic or lumbar cord manifesting as acute painful paraparesis but may also involve the posterior columns and autonomic fibers.2 Most infarcts affect the central parts of the anterior spinal artery supply.2–4 Outcome depends on the initial severity of the neurologic deficits and may be surprisingly benign especially if proprioception remains intact.1,2 Because hypoperfusion may cause SCI,5,6 our goal was to describe SCI as a potential complication of hemodialysis-associated hypoperfusion.