Acute flaccid paralysis caused by anterior spinal artery syndrome (ASAS) is rare in children. It typically manifests as bilateral loss of motor function, pain, and temperature sensation below the level of occlusion, with relatively little impairment in proprioception and vibration sense. We present such a case in a 14-year-old child who presented with a sudden onset of neck pain followed by the typical symptoms of ASAS with impaired breathing due to the height of the lesion, which was found in the magnetic resonance imaging examination at the level of C1–5. An initially suspected thrombogenic cause proved inapplicable. Ultimately, despite extensive diagnosis, as in most cases of ASAS in children, the cause remains unclear.

F.W. and P.G. concepted and drafted the manuscript, and reviewed and revised the manuscript. M.H., M.S., and S.M. had all significant parts of the conception of the manuscript, and they all critically reviewed it and revised it for important intellectual content.

All authors approved the final manuscript as submitted and agreed to be responsible for all aspects of the work.

Received: 07 August 2023

Accepted: 18 November 2023

Article published online:
29 December 2023

© 2023. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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