Foix-Alajouanine syndrome

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Foix-Alajouanine syndrome is a disorder caused by an arteriovenous malformation of the spinal cord. The patients present with symptoms indicating spinal cord involvement (paralysis of arms and legs, numbness and loss of sensation and sphincter dysfunction) and the pathological examination reveal disseminated nerve cell death in the spinal cord and abnormally dilated and tortuous vessels situated on the surface of the spinal cord. Surgical treatment can be tried in some cases. If surgical intervention is contraindicated, corticosteroids may be used.