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Case Reports
. 2019 Oct 15;12(10):e228281.
doi: 10.1136/bcr-2018-228281.

25-year-old man with sudden onset paraplegia

Marco Manieri  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

25-year-old man with sudden onset paraplegia

Marco Manieri. BMJ Case Rep. .

Abstract

A 25-year-old man with Crohn's disease presented to the emergency department with sudden onset bilateral leg pain, paraplegia and loss of anal sphincter tone. CT angiography revealed a massive abdominal aortic thrombosis. Revascularisation surgery was performed promptly, saving most of the abdominal organs, but motor function of the legs was not restored. No coagulation disorder was identified, and no other underlying cause for thrombosis was found. It was speculated that it may be related to the patient's underlying Crohn's disease.

Keywords: Crohn's disease; adult intensive care; emergency medicine; neurology; vascular surgery.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
CT angiography sagittal image. Red arrows point to the proximal and distal end of the thrombus in the aorta. There is passage of contrast medium, but the distal diameter is less due to decreased flow.
Figure 2
Figure 2
3D reconstruction of CT angiography. White arrows point to the proximal and distal end of the thrombus.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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