Definition

Brown-Séquard syndrome (BSS), also known as hemisection of the spinal cord or partial spinal sensory syndrome, is a rare condition caused by an incomplete lesion of the spinal cord. This damage, most often from physical trauma, results in a contralateral (opposite side of the body) loss of sensation and temperature and ipsilateral (same side of the body) paralysis or extreme weakness.

Description

In 1849, French physiologist Charles Edouard Brown-Séquard published a document discussing the condition that now bears his name. Using information gathered through animal experimentation and human autopsies, he identified and described the hallmark signs of BSS: paralysis affecting only one side of the body (ipsilateral paralysis) and loss of sensation on the opposite side of the body.

Injury or damage to one side of the spinal cord, typically in the cervical (neck) region, results in BSS. The...