In the international, but more so in the latin-american, medical literature infarction of the spinal cord has been rarely described except in relationship with surgery of the abdominal aorta. The objetive of this report is to describe, the diagnostic approach including clinical, electrophysiological, imaging and cerebrospinal fluid criteria. With these methods 17 cases were diagnosed between 1982 and 1989, one related to surgery of the abdominal aorta. This series suggests that infarction of the spinal cord is a more common clinical entity than presently considered. Its rarity may be due to a high diagnostic threshold related to the perception that there is no specific therapy.