Journal of clinical neuroscience : official journal of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia
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Review Case Reports
Surfer's myelopathy: A rare presentation in a teenage gymnast and review of the literature.
This article describes a novel setting for a rare nontraumatic spinal cord injury referred to as Surfer's myelopathy. The patient is a 16 year-old female cheerleader who presented following a gymnastics practice where she was repeatedly performing back handsprings. She demonstrated progressively worsening midthoracic back pain and evolving paraplegia and hypesthesia of the lower extremities. ⋯ The clinical and radiologic findings for this patient are consistent with previous case reports of Surfer's myelopathy. The authors also provide a summary of the current literature describing Surfer's myelopathy, which to date includes 64 reported cases. The diagnosis of nontraumatic spinal cord injury, referred to as Surfer's myelopathy, in a gymnast highlights the importance of greater physician and patient awareness of this rare condition.