• clinical neurology

Eighteen months ago, I suffered from acute spinal cord ischaemia. I was at home and suddenly felt a non-painful tingling in both legs when I leaned forward from a chair. I could still walk. As I was supposed to give a presentation, I cycled to the hospital but when there I walked a bit clumsily. I realised that I should not give the presentation and therefore called a colleague, and was brought to his room in a wheelchair. My walking was very broad-based. My colleague examined me and found increased reflexes in my legs, no Babinski sign, allodynia on several areas in my legs, but no sensory level. He arranged an MR scan of the spinal cord, which was normal except for a full bladder that I had not noticed. Cerebrospinal fluid was normal. In the hours following, my walking worsened with a nadir at around 12 hours. I could not stand without help. My colleagues started me on acyclovir and prednisolone. The next day when …