title: Catastrophic transverse myelitis in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus.
abstract: A 24-year-old Japanese woman was admitted to our hospital suffering from high fever and progressive paralysis in both legs. Magnetic resonance imaging of the spinal cord showed high-intensity signals from C5 to Th4 and from Th7 to L1 on T2-weighted images. The patient was diagnosed as having acute transverse myelitis trade mark, which was a complication of systemic lupus erythematosus based on the serological findings. Despite aggressive immunosuppressive treatments including corticosteroid pulse therapy, plasmapheresis, and intravenous cyclophosphamide, the paralysis of her lower extremities did not improve. In the catastrophic type of lupus-associated TM, which develops extensively and longitudinally along the spinal cord, the prognosis still seems to be poor despite intensive treatments.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Internal Medicine and Neurology, National Nagasaki Medical Center, Nagasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: Futoshi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yamanaka
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Migita
authors.forename: Katsuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ichinose
authors.forename: Naoyoshi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ohno
authors.forename: Hironori
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ishimaru
authors.forename: Yojiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsuoka
authors.forename: Katsumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Eguchi
authors.forename: Hironori
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ezaki