Vascular Ischemic Myelopathy in Adolescents and Young Adults: What Should One Know?

Abstract

We present 3 cases of adolescents and young adult with vascular ischemic myelopathy, 2 of which were associated with sports (surfing and water polo), and a third of a patient with a fibrocartilaginous embolism related to a trivial fall from a forklift. These are rare clinical presentations in adolescents and with poor prognosis in most cases. This article describes their clinical presentations in detail and offers a review of the literature with emphasis on the imaging findings and differential diagnosis.