We read with great interest the article by Drs Zhang and Wang reviewing subacute posttraumatic ascending myelopathy (SPAM).1 We recently reported a case of SPAM2 that was not included in their paper, likely due to timing of publication. We also conducted a literature review, which drew many of the same conclusions as Drs Zhang and Wang’s paper.
Drs Zhang and Wang’s review contains images, though no detailed description, of a case they previously reported.3 This case is interesting especially in that the patient described presumably died as a result of respiratory depression from SPAM affecting the cervical spinal cord. We are not aware of another case of mortality directly attributed to SPAM.
SPAM is a rare and potentially catastrophic complication of spinal cord injury (SCI). Though more common after complete SCI, our patient developed SPAM after a mild SCI. Drs Zhang and Wang’s paper further emphasizes the need for physicians to be vigilant for this entity as there are likely many unreported cases.
References
Zhang J, Wang G . Subacute posttraumatic ascending myelopathy: a literature review. Spinal cord (e-pub ahead of print 20 December 2016; doi:10.1038/sc.2016.175).
Miller BA, Roy AK, Boucher AB, Pradilla G, Ahmad FU . Subacute posttraumatic ascending myelopathy after an incomplete spinal cord injury from a gunshot wound to the spine: case report and review of the literature. World Neurosurg 2016; 88: e13– e17.
Zhang J, Wang HL, Liu HY, Wang GS . Subacute post-traumatic ascending myelopathy after T12 burst fracture in a 32-year-old male: case report and surgical result of cervical durotomy. Spinal Cord Ser Cases 2016; 2: 16004.
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Miller, B., Ahmad, F. Subacute posttraumatic ascending myelopathy: a literature review. Spinal Cord Ser Cases 3, 17012 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/scsandc.2017.12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/scsandc.2017.12