Transverse myelitis (inflammation of spinal cord)
Head | Neurology | Transverse myelitis (inflammation of spinal cord) (Disease)
Description
Transverse myelitis is a neurological condition caused by inflammation of the spinal. Myelitis, the inflammation of the spinal cord means, while the transverse term refers to the location of the inflammatory process. This condition can be found in both children and adults.
Thus transverse myelitis may be acute when symptoms evolve over the course of several hours or days, or may be subacute when symptoms develop over several weeks. The first symptom is back pain that may radiate to the upper limbs or lower limbs. Pain may be accompanied by mild fever, burning sensation during urination, loss of appetite, headache. Suffering spinal signs appear gradually, which may include: Paresthesia - abnormal sensation of numbness, tingling; Partial paralysis of the legs; Total paralysis of upper and lower limbs; Paralysis of all four states.
Causes and Risk factors
Transverse myelitis installation is not known. It was observed that transverse myelitis may occur due to a viral infection (that can be caused by herpes simplex virus, Epstein-Barr virus, influenza, enterovirus, measles, rubella, chickenpox, HIV) or a bacterial infection with mycoplasma pneumoniae, an infection Lövéte; an autoimmune process; a cross-immunizations recently .
Myelitis may occur in the disease, as: multiple sclerosis; systemic lupus erythematosus; Sjogrens disease; sarcoidosis; paraneoplastic syndromes; spinal arteriovenous malformations; spinal artery thrombosis.
Diagnosis and Treatment
For the start are required to make history and neurological examination by a physician, who then thinks that if the diagnosis could be transverse myelitis, may recommend the performance of the laboratory investigations. They will ascertain whether it is a transverse myelitis or another condition with similar manifestations. There is no specific treatment for transverse myelitis. Treatment can be used to track symptoms. ...