Vulnerability of human spinal cord in transient cardiac arrest

IT IS GENERALLY BELIEVED that the spinal cord is less vulnerable to transient ischemia than is the brain.1 Nevertheless, complete necrosis of the central structures of spinal cord has been related to failure of circulation in critical border zones between superficial and deep arterial beds due to Stokes-Adams attacks’ and clamping of the aorta.3 It should be expected that a less severe circulatory crisis might produce lesions of less intensity, namely, an incomplete necrosis with selective loss of neurons. It is our purpose to call attention to neuronal necrosis within the gray matter of the spinal cords of six young children following transient cardiac arrest.