The syndrome of acute transverse myelopathy (ATM) has been described in the medical literatures for decades. ATM is a well known clinical entity, but little is known about it's etiology and epidemiological characteristics. Presently, the literature postulates viral infections, vascular disease, multiple sclerosis and malignancy as possible etiologic factors.

We have seen three cases of ATM since 1986. All three patients described unusual stressuful body posturing immediately preceding the onset of neurologic deficit. In our presentation we wish to focus on vascular compromise associated with stressful body positioning as another possible etiology for ATM.