Nitrous Oxide Myelopathy in a Pediatric Patient

Objective Nitrous oxide myelopathy is rare in children. We report a 16-year-old girl who presented at the pediatric emergency department with progressive ascending numbness in 4 limbs for 1 week and sensory ataxia for 4 days. The patient had frequently inhaled nitrous oxide for recreation over the preceding 3 months. Her serum vitamin B12, homocysteine, and folate levels were within normal ranges. Magnetic resonance imaging of the spinal cord T2-weighted images series showed hyperintensities in the central and dorsal cervical spinal cord section over C1 to C6 and suspicious of hyperintensities in the thoracic spinal section over T7 and T8. Conclusions Myelopathy due to nitrous oxide should be considered in a differential diagnosis when adolescents develop neurologic symptoms after nitrous oxide inhalation abuse.

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