ABSTRACT
A 26-year-old woman underwent bypass surgery for biiliac aneurysm of unknown origin. The aorta was cross clamped below the renal arteries to insert a tube graft between the infra-renal aorta and the external iliac arteries with implantation of the internal iliac arteries on the prosthesis. Due to leakage from the posterior area of the proximal anastomosis, the proximal suture was redone. Total cross clamping lasted 65 minutes. No blood pressure drop was noted during or after the procedure. Postoperatively, the neurological examination revealed paraplegia with mild sensorial deficit and fecal and urinary incontinence. The fecal and urinary deficit resolved three months later. Nearly complete motor recovery was noted at the 18(th) postoperative month. The patient then presented oral and genital ulceration at 22 months postop leading to the diagnosis of Behçet's disease. Several risk factors have been suggested to explain spinal ischemia after abnormal aortic surgery: anatomic variablility of spinal perfusion, duration of aortic cross clamping, and intra- or postoperative episodes of hypotension. Thrombotic damage to the arterial system due to Behçet's disease could also perturb spinal blood supply and reproduce one of the mechanisms incriminated in ischemic spinal lesions occurring during aortic surgery for atheromatous aneurysm.
