SPINAL-CORD COMPRESSION - DO WE MISS IT

Four children with spinal card compression due to malignant tumours ar e presented. The severity of the condition was not initially recognize d by parents, or the nature of the likely cause by the initial physici ans. Lower limb asymmetrical weakness, clear-cut sensory levels, and m arked pain indicate need for urgent imaging and exclusion of a space o ccupying lesion. In 1997 diagnosis of Guillain-Barre syndrome should n ot be made without careful prior spinal imaging.