Bulbar-cervical dissociation

This occurs as a result of spinal cord injury at or above ≈ C3 (includes SCI from atlantooccipital and atlantoaxial dislocation). Bulbar-cervical dissociation produces immediate pulmonary and, often, cardiac arrest. Death results if CPR is not instituted within minutes. Patients are usually quadriplegic and ventilator-dependent (phrenic nerve stimulation may eventually allow independence from the ventilator).