Effect of Electroacupuncture Rehabilitation in Transverse Myelitis: A Case Report.

A 32-year-old male diagnosed with transverse myelitis in 2013 came to our clinic in 2015 with complaints of paraplegia, sensory disturbances, pain, exertional dyspnea, poor quality of sleep, emotional instability, and depression. This was a recurrent attack that had been exacerbated by post-traumatic stress. Owing to pain and functional disabilities, he was struggling to actively participate in the treatment modalities offered at our center. A modified protocol of electroacupuncture was planned for a period of 21 days, every day, with each session lasting for 30 minutes. Assessments based on the brief version of World Health Organization Brief Quality of Life (WHO Brief QOL) questionnaire, Pittsburgh sleep quality index, visual analog scale, and a disease-specific physical examination showed momentous improvement in functional health status as well as mental well-being. The quality of life showed significant improvement particularly in the physical and psychological dimensions of WHO Brief QOL. The patient reported a reduction in pain, dyspnea, and fatigue accompanied by an improvement in the quality of sleep and mood. This case report suggests that acupuncture can play a vital role in amelioration of symptoms, thereby improving the health status in patients with transverse myelitis.

Neurological and functional recovery in acute transverse myelitis patients with inpatient rehabilitation and magnetic resonance imaging correlates.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to observe neurological and functional recovery in patients with acute transverse myelitis (ATM) with inpatient rehabilitation and correlate with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) changes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study was conducted with 43 ATM patients (19 males) admitted in the tertiary university research hospital from July 2012 to June 2014. Detailed MRI findings were noted. Neurological status was assessed using the ASIA impairment scale (AIS) and functional recovery was assessed using the Barthel Index score (BI) and Spinal Cord Independence Measure (SCIM). RESULTS: Patients showed significant neurological and functional recovery with inpatient rehabilitation using AIS, BI and SCIM scales when admission and discharge scores were compared (P<0.001). Thirty-one patients (72.1%) had rostral level in the cervical region according to MR imaging, but clinically, 17 patients had tetraplegia, whereas 26 patients had lower-limb weakness only. No definitive pattern or correlation was found between level (MRI or clinical) and neurological status (AIS). CONCLUSION: The neurological outcome in patients with ATM cannot be predicted on the basis of imaging findings. There is a great variation in the imaging level and clinical presentation. Patients show significant improvement with inpatient rehabilitation even with poor functional ability in acute and sub-acute phase of illness.

Pediatric idiopathic transverse myelitis presenting as an anterior cord syndrome: a case report.

OBJECTIVES: Describe the case of an Anterior Cord Syndrome secondary to transverse myelitis. ANTERIOR CORD SYNDROME: Anterior Cord syndrome (ACS) is characterized by a lesion that affects the anterior two thirds of the spinal cord while preserving the posterior columns. TRANSVERSE MYELITIS: Transverse myelitis (TM) is an inflammatory disorder with a heterogeneous pathogenesis affecting the spinal cord at one or more segments, resulting in motor, sensory, and autonomic dysfunction in the absence of a preexisting neurological disease or spinal cord compression. TREATMENT: The patient was treated with methylprednisolone, IV Antibiotics, acyclovir, and inpatient rehabilitation. REHABILITATION: The patient significantly improved her function throughout inpatient rehabilitation and was discharged after achieving modified independent level with ambulation and all activities of daily living. The patient also gained independence with an intermittent catheterization program and a nightly bowel program, which included suppository and digital stimulation. CONCLUSIONS: This case illustrates the first documented pediatric patient with a unique case of Anterior Cord Syndrome caused by idiopathic transverse myelitis.

Rehabilitation results of patients with acute transverse myelitis.

BACKGROUND: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the efficacy of rehabilitation in patients with acute transverse myelitis (ATM). METHOD: The patients were included in rehabilitation program in the rehabilitation unit. Spasticity of the patients was evaluated by modified Ashworth scale at baseline and at the end of treatment. The functional independence measurement (FIM), Barthel index and functional ambulatory scale (FAS) values were as well evaluated at baseline and at the end of the treatment, and the results were compared to evaluate the efficacy of the rehabilitation program. RESULTS: A total of 13 patients (6 males, 7 females) with transverse myelitis were included in the study. The mean +/- SD of age of the patients was 14.30 +/- 3.14. The mean +/- SD of duration of disease was 4.5 +/- 1.85 weeks. There was statistically significant difference in modified Ashworth scale, FIM, and FAS values when the baseline and after treatment values were compared, which indicated improvement due to treatment (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that in patients with ATM, rehabilitation of patients contributes to clinical and functional improvement of the disease (Tab. 2, Fig. 1, Ref. 23).

Persistent motor deficits predict long-term bladder dysfunction in children following acute transverse myelitis.

PURPOSE: We determined whether motor and bladder recovery are correlated in children with acute transverse myelitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From 1995 to 2004, 14 children (8 males and 6 females) with acute transverse myelitis were retrospectively evaluated to determine if there was a correlation between motor and bladder recovery following disease onset. RESULTS: During the acute phase of the disease, all patients experienced lower extremity motor deficit and bladder dysfunction. Full motor recovery was associated with full bladder recovery, and no motor recovery was related to no bladder recovery. Partial motor recovery was associated with either no or partial bladder recovery. CONCLUSIONS: Motor and bladder recovery were related in our patients with transverse myelitis. Children with no motor recovery did not experience bladder recovery. No significant bladder recovery was seen beyond 4 months in our patients.

Evidence for a causal association between oral polio vaccine and transverse myelitis: A case history and review of the Literature.

A 6-month-old boy developed transverse myelitis 7 days after the receipt of oral polio vaccine (OPV). A paediatric neurologist confirmed the diagnosis when the boy was aged 9 years. The boy had received his first scheduled OPV at the age of 4 months and had developed immunity to serotypes 1 and 2 but not to serotype 3. A poliovirus type 3 was isolated from stool and throat specimens collected from the boy in the first 2 days after symptom onset. This was shown, in a World Health Organization accredited laboratory, to be a vaccine strain by nucleic acid probe hybridiztion and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The boy subsequently developed immunity to poliovirus serotype 3. It is accepted that poliovirus infection can present occasionally as transverse myelitis. This is estimated to occur in 1:125-1:800 cases. It is also accepted that OPV can cause vaccine-associated paralytic polio with a frequency of approximately one case per 2.5 million doses of OPV distributed. It seems feasible therefore that OPV could cause transverse myelitis with a frequency of 1 in 300 million to one in two billion doses distributed. In a 1993 report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Acadamies of the United States pertaining to vaccine safety, theoretical criteria were advanced for the establishment of a causal relationship between a vaccine and a clinical outcome. The clinical history and laboratory results in this case satisfy these criteria, providing plausible evidence for the causal link between OPV and transverse myelitis.

Acute transverse myelitis in a 7-month-old boy.

Acute transverse myelitis (ATM) is an acute intramedullary spinal cord disease characterized by an abrupt onset of rapidly progressive weakness of the extremities accompanied by a loss of sensation and sphincter control. Although ATM has an important place in childhood spinal cord disorders, its occurrence remains extremely uncommon in the infant population (0 to 12 months old). This report of a 7-month-old boy with ATM is followed by a discussion of the case and review of the literature regarding etiology, diagnosis, and prognosis for neurological recovery.

Mucinous adenocarcinoma arising from a suprapubic cystostomy site without bladder involvement.

Carcinoma arising from a suprapubic cystostomy site in patients with spinal cord injury has been infrequently described. In all previously reported cases, they have been squamous cell carcinomas. Our patient is a 68 year old male with T10 complete thoracic paraplegia who presented with an exophytic mass extending from his suprapubic cystostomy tract. Biopsy revealed mucinous adenocarcinoma. Carcinoma of the suprapubic cystostomy tract should be considered in those patients who present with bloody drainage and/or masses arising from the suprapubic cystostomy site.

Transverse myelopathy in SLE: clinical features and functional outcomes.

The objective of the study was to examine the clinical features of lupus patients who present with transverse myelopathy (TM) and ascertain functional outcomes when treated early with high dose corticosteroids and/or cyclophosphamide. Case records of nine patients who developed a total of 14 episodes of TM were retrospectively studied. All the patients were female and their ages ranged from 21 to 59 years. Nine episodes of paraparesis, three of tetraparesis, one of numbness and one of neurogenic bladder were reported early in the diagnosis of SLE (median of two years). Neurogenic bowel and bladder and presence of ANA and ds-DNA were invariable. Urodynamics assessment in six patients showed abnormal detrusor behavior in all. CT scans and myelograms were uninformative and CSF studies were normal. ESR and complement levels were insensitive as markers of disease activity. The treatment regimens included pulses of methylprednisolone and/or cyclophosphamide followed by prednisolone and high dose prednisolone from onset. The functional outcomes were uniformly good-with independent ambulation in all except three (who needed assistive devices) and improvement of motor scores. Acute hospital stays were short (range of three to 45 days) whilst only two were referred for inpatient rehabilitation. Bladder abnormalities persisted despite motor recovery and would require long-term review.

Paresias Infantiles Agudas / Infantile Acute Paresias

Se presenta un estudio descriptivo de casos de Paresia Infantiles Agudas (PIA) en el Hospital Universitario Ramón González Valencia (HURGV) en la década de 1985-1994 en niños menores de 12 años. Se registraron 104 casos de PIA, con diagnóstico de egreso: 39 síndromes de Guillain Barré, 21 cerebelitis, 18 hemiplejías infantiles agudas, seis poliomielitis, cinco traumas raquimedulares, cinco tumores, cuatro miositis, tres transtornos psicosomáticos, dos mielitis transversa y una neuritis postinyección intramuscular; distribuidos en grupos etáreos de diez lactantes, 38preescolares, 56 escolares; con una distribución por sexo: Masculino 60, femenino 44. El promedio de estancia fue 24.7 días, la mayoría procedentes del área metropolitana de Bucaramanga. El líquido cefalorraquídeo ayudó al diagnóstico en los casos de Guillain Barré y polio, la mielotomografía en tumores compresivos medulares y la tomografía computarizada cerebral en hemipares infantil aguda y cerebelitis. La evolución final fue buena en la mayoría de los pacientes, se presentaron complicaciones en 18 pacientes y uno falleció con diagnóstico de Guillain Barré por broncoaspiración. El objetivo general del estudio fue determinar y analizar las causas de PIS en el HURGV de Bucaramanga en la última década, permitiendo conocer estadísticas propias de nuestra región acerca de las causas de PIA y a la vez elaborar un protocolo para el enfoque del diagnóstico diferencial precoz de estas patologías

Bladder rehabilitation with dorsal rhizotomy and ventral neuroprosthesis.

Two patients with severe neuropathic bladders were successfully treated with selective dorsal rhizotomy in conjunction with a ventral root neuroprosthesis. Both patients achieved stabilization of their renal function, continence, resolution of vesicoureteral reflux, and relief from indwelling urethral catheters. This alternative form of management avoids the complications of other operative approaches.

[Aspects of rehabilitation after early stabilization of complex injury of the cervical spine]. / Aspekte der Rehabilitation nach Frühstabilisierung der komplexen HWS-Verletzung.

Within the scope of catamnestic investigation and a follow-up examination 170 fractures of the cervical spinal cord, operated in a period of 8 years, were explored. Dependent on the neurological starting point the length of stay in hospital, the time of temporary disablement and the results of social rehabilitation were evaluated. The examination results are appraised.

Functional walking in paralyzed patients by means of electrical stimulation.

Three partially paralyzed patients were unable to walk even after maximal rehabilitation attempts at a major rehabilitation center. One 36-year-old man had transverse myelitis, a 57-year-old man had had a stroke, and the third patient, a 35-year-old man, had incurred a traumatic brain injury. The three patients were unable to flex the hips, had adductor spasm and weak hip and knee extension, and lacked ankle dorsiflexion. Intramuscular stainless steel wire electrodes activated by timers were placed in the quadriceps, hip flexors, extensors, and abductors, as needed. Muscle force and foot contact evaluations were done using the Cybex and the Cleveland Veterans Administration Gait Laboratory. After implantation of intramuscular electrodes, all three patients had improved function but still desired some supervision in walking. A ten-fold increase in knee torque was noted in one patient, thereby providing him with nearly normal strength. No implant complications were noted. The study demonstrated the feasibility of functional neuromuscular stimulation (FNS) gait augmentation in a previously nonwalking patient outside the laboratory. Further improvements will require the development of an implantable, multichannel, programmable microprocessor-controlled stimulator.