Surfer's myelopathy-demonstrated by diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging: a case report and literature review

The authors present a case of "surfer's myelopathy," a rarely described syndrome characterized by nontraumatic paraparesis/paraplegia in novice surfers and theorized to result from spinal cord ischemia secondary to surfing-related positional hyperextension. Imaging and clinical course of the youngest known affected individual are discussed, including evidence of acute spinal cord infarction on diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging, a finding not previously described in the literature.