American journal of physical medicine & rehabilitation
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Am J Phys Med Rehabil · Sep 2013
Review Case ReportsRehabilitation and long-term course of nontraumatic myelopathy associated with surfing.
A nontraumatic spinal cord injury related to surfing is called surfer's myelopathy. The case of a 26-yr-old man who became paraplegic after surfing without apparent traumatic events is described. Physical examination revealed a spinal cord injury at T12 according to the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale A. ⋯ He became able to walk with knee-ankle-foot-orthoses without assistance. A magnetic resonance image obtained 1 yr after the onset of paraplegia showed an atrophic spinal cord from T7-8 to the conus. The course of the neurologic findings and the imaging studies suggest that the pathogenesis of surfer's myelopathy may be ischemia of the anterior spinal artery territory induced by the abnormal trunk posture while surfing.