Acute transverse myelitis caused by ECHO virus type 18 infection.
A 14-year-old boy developed acute quadriplegia, associated with sensory impairment and bowel and urinary dysfunction. MRI of the cervical cord showed diffuse increased signal intensity on T2-weighted images with gadolinium-diethylenetriamine penta-acetic acid enhancement. Based on the clinical presentation and MRI findings, the diagnosis of acute transverse myelitis was made. Enterovirus RNA was amplified from CSF by the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Serum neutralizing antibody to ECHO virus type 18 rose from 1/4 on admission to 1/16 2 months later.


CONCLUSIONS
This is the first reported case of acute transverse myelitis caused by ECHO virus type 18 infection.
Takahashi
S
S
Department of Paediatrics, Asahiwaka Medical College, Japan.
Miyamoto
A
A
Oki
J
J
Azuma
H
H
Okuno
A
A
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D004457:Echovirus Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009188:Myelitis, Transverse / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D004369:Pentetic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D011782:Quadriplegia / Q000821:virology*; D016055:Urinary Retention / Q000209:etiology
D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D004369:Pentetic Acid; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA