Neurológia pre prax 1/2025
Dorsal spinal cord infarction in a young adult female patient with patent foramen ovale and primary trombophilia
We present a case report of a 34-year-old female patient, heterozygote f.V Leiden, affected by autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (AD PCKD), admitted for sudden onset of symptoms of a non-traumatic incomplete transverse spinal cord lesion at the Th4–5 level. Initial magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the brain and whole spinal cord showed no focal changes. CT angiography was used to exclude aortic dissection. The CSF showed normal findings. On the third day, a follow-up MRI of the thoracic spinal cord showed a focus of myelopathy at approximately Th5 level. On the fifth day, this lesion was no longer significantly developed. We assessed the condition as spinal cord ischemia based on the clinical course and the results of complementary examinations. The supplementary transesophageal echocardiography and bubble test revealed a high-grade, permanent right-to-left shunt with a patent foramen ovale (FOP). Further laboratory and imaging investigations to clarify the aetiology of spinal cord infractions were negative. FOP occlusion was indicated. The patient was rehabilitated and her condition gradually improved.
Keywords: spinal cord infarction, patent foramen ovale, primary trombophilia, polycystic kidney disease, young adult female patient, non‑traumatic incomplete transverse spinal cord injury
