title: Acute transverse myelitis.
abstract: Acute transverse myelitis is a relatively uncommon neurological disease in which affected patients exhibit acute dehabilitating symptoms associated with the loss of spinal cord segment function. During January 1996, a 23-year-old black female college student, who had been previously healthy, presented to our clinic with acute onset of symptoms typical of acute transverse myelitis. These symptoms included bilateral lower extremity paresthesias, back pains in the thoracic and lumbar areas and pronounced lower extremity weakness. This article is a review of literature to learn about the presenting symptoms, postulated etiologies, diagnostic studies, laboratory findings, management, and variable prognosis for acute transverse myelitis.
authors.affiliation: Baton Rouge General Medical Center, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thomas
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009188:Myelitis, Transverse / Q000175:diagnosis*