title: Subacute combined degeneration without nutritional anemia.
abstract: Subacute combined degeneration (SCD) is a rare neurological complication of cobalamin deficiency, characterized by demyelination of the dorsal and lateral spinal cord. The diagnosis and treatment of SCD can be delayed if a patient does not present with clear clinical and laboratory signs of nutritional anemia, which has a marked effect on neurological recovery. We report a 62-year-old man with SCD with a history of gastric cancer and chronic alcoholism who presented with ataxia, gait disturbance, urinary incontinence, and limb weakness, but without other clinical or laboratory signs of cobalamin deficiency. The SCD diagnosis was confirmed by 3-Tesla MRI, which showed intramedullary signal alteration in the posterior columns of the entire spinal cord.
authors.affiliation: Section of Neurosurgery, Department of Medico-Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies, Sapienza University of Rome, Corso della Repubblica 79, 04100 Latina, Italy. massimo.miscusi@uniroma1.it
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miscusi
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Testaverde
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rago
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Raco
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Colonnese
mesh_terms: D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications; D000740:Anemia; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology*; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000150:complications; D052879:Subacute Combined Degeneration / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*