TY - JOUR T1 - Spinal cord infarction in a young patient with methamphetamine abuse JF - BMJ Case Reports JO - BMJ Case Reports DO - 10.1136/bcr-2020-241031 VL - 14 IS - 3 SP - e241031 AU - Seek Yang Lee AU - Irene Looi AU - Mahedzan Mat Rabi AU - Mohamed Azlam Mohamed Micdhadhu Y1 - 2021/03/01 UR - http://casereports.bmj.com/content/14/3/e241031.abstract N2 - We report a case of a 20-year-old man who was diagnosed with spontaneous spinal cord infarction after abusing methamphetamine for a year. He presented with sudden onset of bilateral upper and lower limb weakness. His MRI spine showed a long segment of high signal intensity seen predominantly in the anterior spinal cord from medulla to mid thoracic level as well as a pencil-like hyperintensity seen postcontrast suggestive of spinal cord ischaemia or infarct. Thus, he was empirically treated for presumed anterior spinal cord infarction. He then developed autonomic dysfunction and went into respiratory distress, which required invasive mechanical ventilation support. Subsequently, he developed cardiac arrythmia with supraventricular tachycardiac followed by asystole and succumbed to illness on day 9 despite maximal resuscitative efforts. This case report illustrates a rare spinal cord infarction caused by methamphetamine intoxication and the importance of identifying and treating it early. ER -