Surfer's Myelopathy

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Novice surfers are at risk for a rare but potentially devastating form of atraumatic myelopathy. There are 16 published studies on this condition, including 66 cases. The most common suggested mechanism of injury is static hyperextension. However, active mechanisms, in contrast to static, have also been proposed and may be contributory. First time surfers, defined as those who have never been on a surfboard prior to the day of injury, are at particular risk. These individuals make up 89.5%-100% of the reported novice surfers found in the various reports...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Surfers myelopathy can be a rapidly devastating disease and little is known surrounding the pathophysiology of the condition. Although the classical pattern of illness has been well reported, it has never been observed in a non-surfing setting. METHODS: A 51-year-old demolition worker presented with acute non-traumatic myelopathy. Clinical examination revealed sensory loss to the level of L2. T2-MRI and MRI-DWI revealed a hyperintense signal suggestive of an ischaemic event...

BACKGROUND: Surfer's myelopathy is a rare, acute, atraumatic myelopathy that occurs in novice surfers. OBJECTIVE: To review the literature and to present an illustrative case. METHODS: Medical literature was queried for all reports of this condition, systematically abstracted, and analyzed. An illustrative case that provides the most definitive support for a vascular cause is presented. Treatment considerations based on prior cases and expert opinions are provided...

We report a case of so-called "surfer's myelopathy" involving a 15-year-old girl. Preceding episodes of vaccination and infection were absent. She experienced back pain during a surfing class for beginners, followed by weakness in both legs, which progressed to paraperesis. Then, 2 days later, sensory disturbance and bladder/rectal disturbance also developed. Spinal MRI revealed a ischemic lesion compatible with anterior spinal cord syndrome. A combination of methylprednisolone pulse therapy and high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin therapy was effective leaving no residual dysfunction...

Surfer's myelopathy is a rare non-traumatic cause of myelopathy found in novice surfers. We present a case of a 23-year-old female who developed acute and rapidly progressive bilateral lower extremity paraplegia, paresthesia, and anesthesia, accompanied by lower back discomfort and bowel and bladder dysfunction after surfing for the first time. She had a past history of auto-resolved lower extremity weakness that could be related to anatomy variation of spinal cord vascular supply. This individual variation could have increased the risk for ischemic myelopathy after prolonged prone position with back hyperextension on the surf board...

BACKGROUND: We present the case of the youngest known patient diagnosed with surfer's myelopathy. Surfer's myelopathy is a rare nontraumatic myelopathy. The most likely etiology, presumably, is arterial insufficiency related to spine hyperextension. Symptoms consist of back pain, urinary incontinence or retention, paraplegia, and sensory loss. CASE REPORT: A 7-year-old girl presented with back pain, urinary retention, and lower extremity weakness after doing backbends during a cheerleading practice the day prior to presentation...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This article reviews some of the unusual sports-related neurologic disorders within the new and rapidly growing field of sports neurology that neurologists may encounter. RECENT FINDINGS: Surfer's myelopathy is a potentially tragic disorder predominantly affecting novice surfers, leaving many who are affected by this condition with permanent paralysis. Neck-tongue syndrome is a rare primary headache disorder that can occur in athletes and nonathletes, and consists of paroxysmal neck and occipital pain and transient ipsilateral tongue numbness, triggered by sudden rotation of the neck...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Surfing is an uncommon cause of an acute nontraumatic myelopathy. This study describes the MR imaging characteristics and clinical correlates in 23 subjects with surfer's myelopathy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective review of 23 cases of surfer's myelopathy from 2003-2012. Spinal cord MR imaging characteristics and neurologic examinations with the use of the American Spinal Injury Association scale were reviewed. Logistic regression was used to determine associations between MR imaging characteristics, American Spinal Injury Association scale, and clinical improvement...

OBJECTIVE: We report the clinical characteristics of the largest series of nontraumatic spinal cord injury in novice surfers (surfers' myelopathy). METHODS: A retrospective review of the electronic medical record was performed in patients with nontraumatic spinal cord injury associated with surfing identified upon admission to the largest tertiary referral hospital in Hawaii from June 2002 to November 2011. Classification by the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS) was performed upon admission and at follow-up...

Surfer's myelopathy is a rare, nontraumatic spinal cord injury that typically occurs in beginner surfers. The condition was first described in 2004 by Thompson et al and usually presents in thin young men. We present a 19-year-old man who developed lower back pain, profound bilateral lower limb paraparesis, and hyperesthesia during his first learn to surf class. The event was not associated with trauma. Subsequent magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated features consistent with spinal cord ischemia. The motor recovery due to surfer's myelopathy is variable; our case remained a paraplegic with a T10 sensory level...

Three patients with diagnoses of surfer's myelopathy (24-31 yrs old; two men, one woman) were admitted to our rehabilitation hospital. All three patients were novice surfers and had a typical clinical course of onset: rapid progression of paraplegia after back pain while taking surfing lessons. Despite months of rehabilitation at our hospital, in all three patients, complete paraplegia (T9-T12) and bladder-bowel dysfunction remained. Our case profiles suggest that the neurologic outcome of surfer's myelopathy is potentially catastrophic, as has been suggested in previous reports...

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. The initial magnetic resonance image revealed a fusiform swelling of the spinal cord from T7-8 to the conus, which was hyperintense on T2-weighted images. After 6 mos of rehabilitation, the patient was followed for more than 1 yr after onset...

Nontraumatic spinal cord injury from surfing is a new entity first described in 2004 and likely of ischemic etiology. We report the case of a 25-year-old man who presented to the emergency department with a 2-week history of lower extremity weakness after surfing in Indonesia. The patient reported developing low back pain, lower extremity weakness, sensory changes, and urinary retention shortly after his first surfing lesson. The patient was subsequently diagnosed with surfer's myelopathy. The purpose of this report is to review the clinical presentation, etiology, risk factors, and management of this increasingly described entity...

The authors present a case of "surfer's myelopathy," a rarely described syndrome characterized by nontraumatic paraparesis/paraplegia in novice surfers and theorized to result from spinal cord ischemia secondary to surfing-related positional hyperextension. Imaging and clinical course of the youngest known affected individual are discussed, including evidence of acute spinal cord infarction on diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging, a finding not previously described in the literature.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

We present a case involving a 24-year-old woman who developed anterior spinal cord infarction with paraplegia but preserved posterior column sensation shortly after her first surfing lesson. The clinical presentation and magnetic resonance imaging findings were compatible with anterior cord infarction from T11 to conus medullaris. However, a thorough diagnostic workup revealed no predisposing factors of ischemia. Like previously reported cases of surfer's myelopathy, our patient was inexperienced and lacked trained back muscles, though none of the previously related cases were reported to have anterior cord infarction...

Surfer's myelopathy is an emergent medical condition, representing a rare type of nontraumatic injury of the spinal cord, triggered by continued hyperextension of the back in inexperienced surfers. Subsequent acute spinal cord ischemia is the main pathological "substrate" for extensive cord myelopathy, determining potential neurological damage and thus predicting a patient's outcome. Awareness of the regional vascular anatomy and correct interpretation of the radiological findings are essential in making a precise diagnosis...