ArticleJournal of neurosurgery. Case lessons2026
Unmasking the role of a thoracic arachnoid web and watershed ischemia in rapidly progressing paraplegia: illustrative case.
Article in Journal of neurosurgery. Case lessons, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSpinal arachnoid webs (SAWs) are an uncommon cause of spinal cord compression, typically presenting with an insidious onset of symptoms. Their role in acute neurological deterioration is not well established, and the underlying pathophysiology remains debated. OBSERVATIONS: The authors describe the case of a 62-year-old male who presented with acute thoracic back pain and rapidly progressive unilateral lower limb weakness, evolving to paraplegia within hours. The initial deficit was highly atypical for a dorsally located compressive lesion, creating significant diagnostic uncertainty. Imaging revealed a T5-7 dorsal arachnoid web, which was considered an incidental finding given the atypical presentation. Subsequent imaging demonstrated web enlargement and the development of an owl's-eye T2 hyperintensity, indicative of anterior spinal cord ischemia. Emergency surgical decompression and arachnolysis were performed, leading to partial neurological recovery. LESSONS: This case challenges the conventional understanding of SAWs as slowly progressive lesions and highlights the diagnostic complexity introduced by atypical presentations. The location of the web in a vascular watershed zone of the midthoracic spine likely contributed to the development of cord ischemia, which was suspected to be the primary driver of the patient's fulminant course. This case underscores the importance of considering SAWs in the differential diagnosis of acute myelopathy. https://thejns.org/doi/10.3171/CASE2682.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.