In older patients,<unk>  most often occurs after acute hyperextension injury in an individual with long-standing cervical spondylosis. A slow, chronic cause in this age group is when the<unk>  gets caught and squeezed between a posterior intervertebral disc herniation against the anterior<unk>  and/or with posterior pressure on the<unk>  from hypertrophy of the ligamentum flavum (Lhermitte's sign may be the experience that causes the patient to seek medical diagnosis). However,<unk>  is not exclusive to older patients as younger individuals can also sustain an injury leading to<unk> . Typically, younger patients are more likely to get<unk>  as a result of a high-force trauma or a bony instability in the cervical spine. Historically, spinal<unk>  damage was believed to originate from concussion or contusion of the<unk>  with stasis of axoplasmic flow, causing edematous injury rather than destructive hematomyelia. More recently, autopsy studies have demonstrated that<unk>  may be caused by bleeding into the<unk>  part of the<unk> , portending less favorable prognosis. Studies also have shown from postmortem evaluation that<unk>  probably is associated with selective axonal disruption in the lateral columns at the level of the injury to the spinal<unk>  with relative preservation of the grey matter.
Central cord syndrome
Posterior cord syndrome
Occipital horn syndrome
Medial medullary syndrome
Lateral medullary syndrome
Syringomyelia
Vascular myelopathy
Upper motor neuron syndrome