MEDizzy - A 19-year-old man injured his cervical spine in a swimming

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Combined Neurology X

A 19-year-old man injured his cervical spine in a swimming pool diving accident. After an initial severe quadriparesis, there was a rapid recovery of much motor function over several weeks. Which of the following would you expect to find in this patient 12 months from now?

ExplanationD. This patient has an upper motor neuron lesion. The damage has been done proximal to the synapse of the anterior horn of the spinal cord. He will therefore develop a spastic paralysis. Fasciculations, fibrillations, flaccid paralysis, and hyporeflexia are all found following lower motor neuron lesions (at the anterior horn cell or more distally).