Radiographic changes in delayed white cord syndrome from postsurgical cervical myelopathy: A case report and review of the literature

White cord syndrome (WCS), also referred to as reperfusion injury of the spinal cord, is a rare condition involving sudden neurological deterioration following cervical spinal decompression. The syndrome is diagnosed in the absence of an iatrogenic cord injury or perioperative complications. Both lo...

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Main Authors: Serena Sheen, Volney Sheen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-07-01
Series:Radiology Case Reports
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1930043325002754
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author Serena Sheen
Volney Sheen
author_facet Serena Sheen
Volney Sheen
author_sort Serena Sheen
collection DOAJ
description White cord syndrome (WCS), also referred to as reperfusion injury of the spinal cord, is a rare condition involving sudden neurological deterioration following cervical spinal decompression. The syndrome is diagnosed in the absence of an iatrogenic cord injury or perioperative complications. Both loss of neurophysiological signaling during intraoperative monitoring and the appearance of hyper-intensity on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging are hallmarks of WCS. We present a report of a female patient who presented with the condition and followed her imaging studies longitudinally. Imaging studies showed prolonged and persistent contrast enhancement over a year and a half postsurgery. Such findings have not previously been reported with WCS. We provide a brief review of the literature, highlighting the main radiologic findings.
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spelling doaj-art-e517cac6ff3343d1bb34d8f6b2c0d9022025-08-20T01:50:00ZengElsevierRadiology Case Reports1930-04332025-07-012073231323510.1016/j.radcr.2025.03.062Radiographic changes in delayed white cord syndrome from postsurgical cervical myelopathy: A case report and review of the literatureSerena Sheen0Volney Sheen1Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USACorresponding author.; Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USAWhite cord syndrome (WCS), also referred to as reperfusion injury of the spinal cord, is a rare condition involving sudden neurological deterioration following cervical spinal decompression. The syndrome is diagnosed in the absence of an iatrogenic cord injury or perioperative complications. Both loss of neurophysiological signaling during intraoperative monitoring and the appearance of hyper-intensity on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging are hallmarks of WCS. We present a report of a female patient who presented with the condition and followed her imaging studies longitudinally. Imaging studies showed prolonged and persistent contrast enhancement over a year and a half postsurgery. Such findings have not previously been reported with WCS. We provide a brief review of the literature, highlighting the main radiologic findings.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1930043325002754Case reportCervical myelopathyDelayedWhite cord syndrome
spellingShingle Serena Sheen
Volney Sheen
Radiographic changes in delayed white cord syndrome from postsurgical cervical myelopathy: A case report and review of the literature
Radiology Case Reports
Case report
Cervical myelopathy
Delayed
White cord syndrome
title Radiographic changes in delayed white cord syndrome from postsurgical cervical myelopathy: A case report and review of the literature
title_full Radiographic changes in delayed white cord syndrome from postsurgical cervical myelopathy: A case report and review of the literature
title_fullStr Radiographic changes in delayed white cord syndrome from postsurgical cervical myelopathy: A case report and review of the literature
title_full_unstemmed Radiographic changes in delayed white cord syndrome from postsurgical cervical myelopathy: A case report and review of the literature
title_short Radiographic changes in delayed white cord syndrome from postsurgical cervical myelopathy: A case report and review of the literature
title_sort radiographic changes in delayed white cord syndrome from postsurgical cervical myelopathy a case report and review of the literature
topic Case report
Cervical myelopathy
Delayed
White cord syndrome
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1930043325002754
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