Painless compressive cervical myelopathy with false localizing sensory findings.

Five patients who presented with clearly defined thoracic sensory levels were found by myelography and follow-up computed tomography (CT) to have cervical spinal cord compression. None of these patients had pain or an immediate preceding history of trauma. There is currently no satisfactory explanation for the large discrepancy between the sensory level and the level of cord compression in such patients. It is crucial that the clinician recognize the possibility of a cervical cord lesion in patients with such a presentation so that appropriate radiographic studies can be performed. Failure to appreciate this syndrome could result in failure to diagnose a treatable lesion.