Syringomyelia and complex regional pain syndrome as complications of multiple sclerosis.
OBJECTIVE
To describe a patient from Southeast Asia with the optic-spinal phenotype of multiple sclerosis who developed syringomyelia and resultant complex regional pain syndrome (formerly named reflex sympathetic dystrophy).


METHODS
Case report.


METHODS
Department of neurology at a tertiary care hospital in the Republic of Singapore.


METHODS
A 53-year-old Chinese woman with a history of optic neuritis developed an episode of left hemiparesis leading to a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Serial neuroimaging studies revealed an active demyelinating plaque in the cervical area that later progressed into a syrinx. Over a period of 1 year she also developed signs of sympathetic dysfunction including Horner syndrome of the left eye and complex regional pain syndrome in the left hand.


CONCLUSIONS
A case of the optic-spinal phenotype of multiple sclerosis that is commonly observed in Southeast Asia is described. This characteristically tissue-destructive form of multiple sclerosis resulted in syringomyelia complicated by a complex regional pain syndrome. Possible pathogenic mechanisms for these associations are discussed.
Das
A
A
Department of Neurology, National Neuroscience Institute/Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore. Asha_Das@notes.ttsh.gov.sg
Puvanendran
K
K
D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000473:pathology; D003389:Cranial Nerve Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D003711:Demyelinating Diseases / Q000473:pathology; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000150:complications*; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000502:physiology; D009900:Optic Nerve / Q000473:pathology*; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology*; D010641:Phenotype; D012019:Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy / Q000150:complications*; D013118:Spinal Cord Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D013577:Syndrome; D013595:Syringomyelia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D009626:Terminology as Topic