A Sporadic Case of a 22-Year-Old Female With Spinal Cord Infarction (SCI) Complicated by SS Pattern Sickle Cell Disease (SCD): A Rare Case Report

Abstract

A stroke that occurs either in arteries that supply the spinal cord or the spinal cord itself is called spinal cord infarction (SCI). The lower thoracic area is the most typical site for spinal cord infarcts. Spinal infarcts are rare even among people without sickle cell disease, making up only a very less amount of all infarcts to the central nervous system. A 22-year-old female with a known case of SS pattern sickle cell anaemia was brought by her parents to the emergency medicine department with a complaint of pain in the bilateral upper and right lower limbs. The pain progressed to weakness within 15 minutes, which was sudden in onset and associated with faecal and urine incontinence. On physical examination of the client, her Glasgow coma scale (GCS) was E3 VT M5, pupils were bilateral and equally reactive to light, in both upper limbs, the power was 0/5 and 2/5 in the left lower limb, and hypotonia in the upper and right lower limb was noted. Still, the tone was expected in the left lower limb. MRI showed myelopathy extending over three segments from c2 to c4 involving predominantly anterior aspect, most likely cord ischemia. The patient was treated in the neurocritical care unit with tab Ecosprine 150 mg, multivitamins, and rehabilitative therapy. After two months, she showed gradual but consistent improvement in restoring some motor function in her affected limbs. SCIs are uncommon. Although ischemic stroke can be treated with anticoagulants and antiplatelet medicines, viable therapies for SCI have not yet been identified.