Magnetic resonance imaging demonstration of a single lesion causing Wallerian degeneration in ascending and descending tracts in the spinal cord

A magnetic resonance image of a 50-year-old man with a remote history of cervical spine injury showed focal myelomalacia at C5 and hyperintense areas on T2-weighted images laterally and posteriorly in the cord above and below C5. We believe these lesions to be due to Wallerian degeneration, with the cephalocaudal level of the Wallerian degeneration lesions dependant on the direction of the tracts relative to the C5 lesion.