Acute Quadriplegia after Lumbar Puncture in a Patient with Misdiagnosed Cervical Myelopathy

November 10, 2020

Case Reports

. 2020 Oct 21;16(2):299-304.

doi: 10.13004/kjnt.2020.16.e39.

eCollection 2020 Oct.

Affiliations

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Case Reports

Juwhan Lee et al.

Korean J Neurotrauma.

2020.

Abstract

The incidence of quadriplegia following drainage of cerebrospinal fluid by lumbar puncture (LP) below a spinal occupying lesion is rare. We report a case of acute quadriplegia following LP for presumed normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) in a 66-year-old man. Acute cervical myelopathy with a herniated cervical disc was subsequently found on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at the C5-6 level. After posterior decompression and anterior cervical discectomy and fusion at the C5-6 level with a cervical plate, the patient’s motor and sensory functions recovered. Clinicians should be aware that symptoms of NPH and cervical myelopathy may overlap, and that serious complications may occur when performing LP below a spinal lesion. As a safety measure, cervical spine MRI should be performed before LP.

Keywords:

Lumbar puncture; Myelopathy; Normal pressure hydrocephalus; Quadriplegia; Spinal cord injuries.

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: The authors have no financial conflicts of interest.

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