Ischaemic spinal cord injury following a coronary angiogram: a case report

A 50 year old man was undergoing a coronary angiogram in preparation for possible cardiac bypass surgery at Queen Alia Heart Institute (QAHI) in King Hussein Medical Centre (KHMC) in Amman, Jordan. At the end of the procedure, he suddenly developed low back pain and weakness of both lower limbs. Neurological examination revealed incomplete paraplegia below L1 with urinary retention. Urgent MRI scan suggested ischaemia of the lower part of the spinal cord. Literature search revealed that no such complication of this procedure, which is a common investigation in cardiac centres, has, to date, been reported. The possible causes of this patient's paraplegia are discussed.