title: Eosinophilic myelitis in the cervical cord mimicking intramedullary cord tumor.
abstract: Eosinophilic myelitis (EM) or atopic myelitis is a rare disease characterized by a myelitic condition in the spinal cord combined with allergic process. This disease has specific features of elevated serum IgE level, active reaction to mite specific antigen and stepwise progression of mostly the sensory symptoms. Toxocariasis can be related with a form of EM. This report describes two cases of cervical eosinophilic myelitis initially considered as intramedullary tumors. When a differential diagnosis of the intramedullary spinal cord lesion is in doubt, evaluation for eosinophilic myelitis and toxocariasis would be beneficial.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Cheon Wook
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Woo Jin
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Choe
authors.forename: Young Il
authors.initials: YI
authors.lastname: Chun
keywords: Allergy; Eosinophilic myelitis; Intramedullary tumor; Toxocariasis