BACKGROUND Ischemic spinal cord infarct is the most frequent vascular lesion, but although aortic aneurysms are a possible cause, it is unusual for such cases to be seen. Clinical case. We present a case of spinal ischemia as the first sign of the dissection of an aneurysm of the abdominal aorta. A 58 year old man was seen in the hospital Emergency Department complaining of lumbar pain and the sudden onset of paraplegia of the legs, associated with pain in the middle of his back but with no history of previous trauma or effort. The only relevant personal history was of smoking. Whilst he was in the Neurology Department, the anomaly was diagnosed after dorsal, and lumbar gadolinium magnetic resonance (MR), when a zone of ischaemia at T9-T10 was seen and, as a casual observation, an image compatible with an aneurysm of the abdominal aorta. The relationship between the dissection of the aorta and the neurological complications may be explained by a clear understanding of the vascular supply to the spinal cord. In this case, both the clinical findings and the MR were clearly indicative of an anterior spinal artery syndrome. CONCLUSIONS In spite of its rarity, aortic aneurysm should be included in the differential diagnosis of a clinical picture of ischemic myelopathy, especially when there is lumbar and/or abdominal pain before the appearance of neurological symptoms. Spinal MR is important for this diagnosis.