Publication

Spinal Cord Disorders

Journal Paper/Review - Sep 19, 2015

Units
PubMed
Doi

Citation
Tettenborn B, Hägele-Link S. Spinal Cord Disorders. Eur Neurol 2015; 74:141-6.
Type
Journal Paper/Review (English)
Journal
Eur Neurol 2015; 74
Publication Date
Sep 19, 2015
Issn Electronic
1421-9913
Pages
141-6
Brief description/objective

BACKGROUND
The spinal cord is the main pathway for information, connecting the brain and the peripheral nervous system. Any disorder that results in spinal cord dysfunction will have a dramatic impact on the patient's quality of life. This review focusses on myelopathy, specifically, on the acute and subacute clinical presentations and the inflammatory and vascular etiology of this widespread disorder.

SUMMARY
Myelopathy following spinal cord injury is a generic term referring to a lesion that affects the spinal cord following traumatic injury, or autoimmune, infectious, neoplastic, vascular and hereditary degenerative diseases. Depending on the patient's medical history, the underlying clinical syndrome and the temporal course of the manifestation, the clinician must account for a wide range of possible differential diagnoses.

KEY MESSAGES
Spinal cord disorders pose a tremendous challenge for the clinician, as they show great variability in clinical presentation but can have potentially de-vastating sequelae. The acute and sometimes urgent nature of therapeutic management is highly dependent on the underlying disorder, often necessitating a combination of approaches including surgical or conservative therapies (including immunomodulatory therapy) and an interdisciplinary approach to achieve the best outcomes.