After fracture of the cervical portion of the spine with injury to the cord, mental symptoms are sometimes observed. They are often ascribed to cerebral injury, alcoholism or the effects of medication, and it is usually difficult to be certain that they are not due to one or another of these factors. Occasionally, however, cases occur in which the mental symptoms develop late or persist under circumstances which make it appear that the cervical injury is in itself responsible for the symptoms.
An example is the following case, reported by permission of Dr. W. J. Mixter.
Case 1.—
Clinical History.
—F. M., a chauffeur aged 29, previously healthy, apparently fell from a balcony about 30 feet (9 meters) high, while drunk, some time during the night of Sept. 3, 1933. He was found on the ground at 9:30 the following morning, conscious but paralyzed from the neck down, and without