Abstract: Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics of nontraumatic spinal cord injury, including the demographic characteristics,etiology and neurological function. Methods 44 patients with nontraumatic spinal cord injury in the past 4 years were reviewed. Results There were 27 males (61.3%) and 17 females (38.7%) with mean age of 39.85 years (3.5~78). They were followed up for mean of 13.3 (3~23) months. Myelitis (36%) and spinal tumor (including primary and metastatic tumor, 18.1%) were the most common causes, followed by intraspinal tumor (15.9%), vascular disease (13.6%), nontraumatic acute disc herination (6.8%), spinal cord ischemia after non-spinal surgery (4.5%) and hepatic myelopathy (4.5%). Neurological function at the initial admission included tetraplegia in 9 patients, paraplegia in 30 patients, conus medullaris syndrome in 2 patients and cauda equina syndrome in 2 patients. Neurological function of ASIA at the initial admission included A in 14 cases, B in 6, C in 13 and D in 11. 34% patients improved at least one ASIA grade when evaluated at final follow up. Conclusion Nontraumatic etiologies contribute to a significant proportion for spinal cord injury. Patients with nontraumatic spinal cord injury present the clinical characteristics different from traumatic spinal cord injury cases.

Key words: nontraumatic spinal cord injury, etiology, neurological function, rehabilitation