Brown-Sequard syndrome is most characteristically caused by which type of lesion?

Brown-Sequard syndrome is most characteristically caused by which type of lesion?

• A. Knife cut.
• B. Gunshot wound.
• C. Tumor infiltration.
• D. Demyelinating disease.

Answer: (A)

Brown-Sequard syndrome arises when one half of the spinal cord is damaged, producing the characteristic dissociated pattern of deficits: ipsilateral weakness and loss of vibration/position sense below the lesion, plus contralateral loss of pain and temperature starting a level or two below. This pattern fits a hemisection because the corticospinal tract and dorsal columns on the same side are affected, while the crossing spinothalamic fibers are disrupted on the opposite side. The most classic cause is a penetrating, unilateral injury such as a knife cut, which cleanly transects one side of the cord and yields this tidy hemicord syndrome. Gunshot wounds can cause similar symptoms but are less characteristic due to more variable, irregular damage. Tumor infiltration and demyelinating disease typically produce more diffuse, progressive, or multifocal deficits that do not fit the single-sided hemisection pattern.

Brown-Sequard syndrome arises when one half of the spinal cord is damaged, producing the characteristic dissociated pattern of deficits: ipsilateral weakness and loss of vibration/position sense below the lesion, plus contralateral loss of pain and temperature starting a level or two below. This pattern fits a hemisection because the corticospinal tract and dorsal columns on the same side are affected, while the crossing spinothalamic fibers are disrupted on the opposite side. The most classic cause is a penetrating, unilateral injury such as a knife cut, which cleanly transects one side of the cord and yields this tidy hemicord syndrome. Gunshot wounds can cause similar symptoms but are less characteristic due to more variable, irregular damage. Tumor infiltration and demyelinating disease typically produce more diffuse, progressive, or multifocal deficits that do not fit the single-sided hemisection pattern.