Beck syndrome in a young patient with respiratory arrest

Anterior spinal artery (ASA) infarcts are also called Beck syndrome. It has a sudden onset and often has radicular or girdle like pain. Flask tetraplegia/paraplegia (within minutes and hours), flask bladder, thermoanesthesia, analgesia, flammable pain are other findings. A small number of ASA infarction cases in which onset with dyspnea or apnea have been reported. With this case report, it is aimed to keep in mind that the ASA infarcts can apply with respiratory arrest which is an atypical clinic. A 21-year-old female patient applied with weakness in the whole body and respiratory distress that developed suddenly. Respiratory arrest developed during her examinations, she was intubated and taken to the intensive care unit. Except for a vague upper respiratory tract infection and polycystic ovary syndrome, there was no medical histories. In her neurological examination, she was tetraplegic, deep tendon reflexes were hypoactive, Babinski sign was bilaterally positive. In addition to the Guillain-Barre and myasthenic crisis, examinations were planned for all differential diagnosis. Meanwhile in the cranial and cervical MR, a T2 hyperintense pathological signal was observed, which started from the bulbus level, followed along the cervical and upper thoracic vertebra. Spinal cord infarcts are extremely rare compared to cerebral infarcts. Infarcts are most frequently observed in the lower thoracic segments and conus medullaris. This young patient who applied with respiratory arrest and having a long segment anterior spinal infarction including bulbus, entire cervical and upper thoracic level, is presented because of its rarity.