Respiratory arrest and cervical spinal cord infarction following lumbar puncture in meningitis.

摘要: A 6-year-old child with meningitis had a respiratory arrest 20 minutes after lumbar puncture. Thereafter she required maintenance on ventilator, flaccid quadriplegia, and died 12 days later. Necropsy showed infarction of the central portion cord at level decussation pyramids. The suggested mechanism damage is compression arterial supply to foramen magnum by herniated cerebellar tonsils; concomitant hypotension may have contributed production damage. Four similar cases, who survived residual deficit, also been reported. Other separate mechanisms which can be damaged in are vasculitis, thrombosis arachnoiditis.