title: [Acute transverse myelopathy associated to S. aureus: a difficult differential diagnosis].
abstract: Acute myelopathy includes a group of diseases with an important associated morbidity, thus early diagnosis and treatment is important. The most frequent etiology is extramedullary compression. Magnetic resonance (MR) is the most suitable procedure in this type of disease since it also offers information on extramedullar lesions and makes it possible to assess spine involvement. We present the case of a 57 year-old man who was admitted because of back pain for several weeks and systemic infection due to S. aureus. Later, he suffered a sudden neurological deficit with spine involvement but without compressive images on the MRI. We discuss the differential diagnosis among intramedullary abscess, epidural abscess, acute transverse myelitis and spondylodiscitis associated to acute myelopathy. We carry out a brief review of the medical literature on diagnosis criteria of those entities.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Medicina Interna B., Hospital Clínico Universitario Lozano Blesa, Zaragoza. FJRUIZ1@terra.es
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Ruiz Ruiz
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Martín Lorenzo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amores Arriaga
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Ruíz Laiglesia
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Hualde Enguita
authors.forename: J I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Pérez Calvo
mesh_terms: D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D020802:Epidural Abscess / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009188:Myelitis, Transverse / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus