Meningovascular syphilis of the spinal cord presenting with incomplete Brown-Sequard syndrome: case report.

Abstract

A man aged 31 presented to hospital with acute onset of weakness in the legs, sensory loss, and disturbance of bladder and bowel function. Incomplete Brown-Séquard syndrome secondary to meningovascular syphilis of the spinal cord was diagnosed after serological tests for syphilis gave positive results. His condition was probably caused by endarteritis of the arteria radicularis magna of Adamkiewicz. He was treated with procaine penicillin 1.8 MIU intramuscularly once a day and probenecid 0.5 g by mouth three times a day for 21 days followed by physiotherapy and rehabilitation. Considerable neurological recovery was expected. To our knowledge this association has not been reported previously in detail in an English publication.