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Clinical Article
Analysis of the clinical and MRI characteristics in patient with acute transverse myelitis
LUO Ya-xi  WANG Jing-jie  ZENG Chun  LIU Yi  ZHANG Xiao-hui  LI Yong-mei 

DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1674-8034.2015.02.006.


[Abstract] Objective: To study the clinical and MRI characteristics of acute transverse myelitis (ATM) after the onset of symptoms.Materials and Methods: The clinical information and MRI features of 56 cases with ATM during Jul.2006~Jul.2012 were analyzed retrospectively, and all patients with a follow-up duration longer than 2 years were identified.Results: (1) Fifty-six cases of ATM patients must have had at least one follow-up visit more than 2 years after the onset of symptoms. 19 cases (33.9 %, 19/56) for multiple sclerosis (MS), 10 cases (17.9%, 10/56) for neuromyelitisoptica (NMO), 3 cases (5.4%, 3/56) for systemic autoimmune disease, 4 cases (7.1%, 4/56) for parainfectious and 20 cases (35.7%, 20/56) foridiopathic were clinically defined. (2) All patients had varying degrees of motor, sensory and autonomic dysfunction below the level of the cord lesions. (3) MRI features: The cervical cord was involved in 18 cases.The thoracic cord was involved in 17cases.The cervical and thoracic spinal cord was all involved in 13 cases.The thoracic and lumbar spinal cord was involved in 8 cases. Thirty-three cases of lesions were associated with swelling, and in other 23 cases the spinal cord showed normal appearance. The average lesion length was 4.7 spinal segment, 29 cases were involved more than two-thirds of the cross-sectional area of the spinal cord, 27 cases occupied less than two-thirds of the cross-sectional area. Contrast-enhanced MR scanning demonstrated that non-enhancement was seen in 15 cases, patchy or strip enhancement were revealed in 41 cases.Conclusions: The combination of clinical characteristics and MRI featurescan improve the diagnosis and differential diagnosis with ATM.
[Keywords] Acute transverse myelitis;Magnetic resonance imaging;Multiple sclerosis

LUO Ya-xi Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China; Department of Radiology, the Fifth People's Hospital of Chongqing, Chongqing 400062, China

WANG Jing-jie Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China

ZENG Chun Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China

LIU Yi Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China

ZHANG Xiao-hui Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China

LI Yong-mei* Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China

*Correspondence to: Li YM, E-mail: Lymzhang70@aliyun.com

Conflicts of interest   None.

Received  2014-10-19
Accepted  2014-12-29
DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8034.2015.02.006
DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1674-8034.2015.02.006.

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