Spinal seizures after metrizamide myelography in a patient with a spinal block.

Since the introduction of the water-soluble contrast agent metrizamide, reports of side effects in man following myelography have been limited to the frequent occurrence of relatively minor symptoms such as headache and vomiting , and the occasional episode of grand mal convulsions [17]. Such convulsions may relate to an excessive quantity of the contrast agent spilling over the convexity of the brain and are sometimes facilitated by phenothiazine medication [8]. As a result , metrizamide has been considered safe for total myelography, c isternography , and ventriculography . We report a case of spinal seizures, in the form of prolonged myoclonic spasms of the trunk and lower extremities , occurring after metrizamide myelography in a patient with a myelographic block in the midthorac ic region.