Transverse myelitis
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Transverse myelitis is an inflammation of both sides of one section of the spinal cord. This neurological disorder often damages the insulating material covering nerve cell fibers (myelin).
Transverse myelitis interrupts the messages that the spinal cord nerves send throughout the body. This can cause pain, muscle weakness, paralysis, sensory problems, or bladder and bowel dysfunction.
Several factors can cause transverse myelitis, including infections and immune system disorders that attack the body’s tissues. It could also be caused by other myelin disorders, such as multiple sclerosis.
Treatment for transverse myelitis includes medications and rehabilitative therapy. Most people with transverse myelitis recover at least partially. Those with severe attacks sometimes are left with major disabilities.
Signs and symptoms of transverse myelitis usually develop over a few hours to a few days and may sometimes progress gradually over several weeks.
Transverse myelitis usually affects both sides of the body below the affected area of the spinal cord, but sometimes there are symptoms on just one side of the body.
Typical signs and symptoms include:
Call your doctor or get emergency medical care if you’re experiencing signs and symptoms of transverse myelitis. A number of neurological disorders can cause sensory problems, weakness, and bladder or bowel dysfunction including compression of the spinal cord, which is a surgical emergency.
Another less common cause is a stroke of the spinal cord due to impaired blood circulation. This can be caused by injury, surgery of the aorta or increased blood clotting tendency. It’s important to get a prompt diagnosis and appropriate treatment.
The exact reason for transverse myelitis is not known. Sometimes there is no known cause. There are a number of conditions that appear to cause the disorder, including:
Viral and other infections of the respiratory tract or the gastrointestinal tract may cause transverse myelitis. In most cases, the inflammatory disorder appears after recovery from the infection.
Viruses that can infect the spinal cord directly are herpes viruses, including the one that causes shingles and chickenpox (zoster), enteroviruses, and West Nile virus. Other viruses may trigger an autoimmune reaction without directly infecting the spinal cord.
Rarely, parasites may infect the spinal cord, and certain bacteria such as Lyme disease can cause a painful inflammation of nerve roots of the spinal cord.
Neuromyelitis optica (Devic’s disease) is a condition that causes inflammation and myelin loss around the spinal cord and the nerve in your eye that transmits information to your brain. Transverse myelitis associated with neuromyelitis optica usually affects both sides of your body.
In addition to transverse myelitis, you may experience symptoms of damage to myelin of the optic nerve, including pain in the eye with movement and temporary vision loss. This can happen with or separately from transverse myelitis symptoms. However, some people with neuromyelitis optica don’t experience eye-related problems and might have only recurrent episodes of transverse myelitis.
Autoimmune disorders probably contribute to transverse myelitis in some people. These disorders include lupus, which can affect multiple body systems, and Sjogren’s syndrome, which causes severe dryness of the mouth and eyes.
Transverse myelitis associated with an autoimmune disorder may be a warning sign of neuromyelitis optica. Neuromyelitis optica occurs more frequently in people with other autoimmune diseases.
People with transverse myelitis usually experience only one episode. However, complications often linger, including the following:
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Transverse myelitis
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