A 37-year-old man presents to his doctor with "weak legs" after having fallen down the stairs and injuring his back at home a month previously. On examination, he has muscle weakness, hyperreflexia of the patella and Achilles reflexes and a Babinski sign in the right leg only. There is also loss of joint position sense in the right leg (inability to sense movement of his toes either up or down) and loss of responses to light touch and vibration on the right leg extending up to the belly button but temperature and pain sensation are normal. However, there is a loss of temperature and pinprick sensation in the left leg, extending up the left side to his belly button from his toes. Using your knowledge of neuroanatomy, state what type of neurological injury he has sustained and suggest the approximate location of the lesion in the spinal cord
A 37-year-old man presents to his doctor with "weak legs" after having fallen down the stairs and injuring his back at home a month previously. On examination, he has muscle weakness, hyperreflexia of the patella and Achilles reflexes and a Babinski sign in the right leg only. There is also loss of joint position sense in the right leg (inability to sense movement of his toes either up or down) and loss of responses to light touch and vibration on the right leg extending up to the belly button but temperature and pain sensation are normal. However, there is a loss of temperature and pinprick sensation in the left leg, extending up the left side to his belly button from his toes.
Using your knowledge of neuroanatomy, state what type of neurological injury he has sustained and suggest the approximate location of the lesion in the spinal cord.
Trending now
This is a popular solution!
Step by step
Solved in 2 steps