What Are the Different Types of Spinal Cord Disease?

The term "myelitis" refers to spinal cord inflammation caused by various infections or allergies. Spinal cord damage caused by radiation damage, poisoning, vascular disease, metabolic disease, and various degenerations of nutritional disorders is called myelopathy, and the clinical manifestations are mainly It is dyskinesia (paraplegia), sensory disorder (all sensory pain disappears), autonomic nerve dysfunction such as bladder rectal sphincter (patient incontinence or urinary retention).

Spinal cord disease

Myelitis

The term "myelitis" refers to spinal cord inflammation caused by various infections or allergies. Spinal cord damage caused by radiation damage, poisoning, vascular disease, metabolic disease, and various degenerations of nutritional disorders is called myelopathy, and the clinical manifestations are mainly It is dyskinesia (paraplegia), sensory disorder (all sensory pain disappears), autonomic nerve dysfunction such as bladder rectal sphincter (patient incontinence or urinary retention).

Symptoms of syringomyelia

Syringomyelia and syringomyelia are a slowly progressive degenerative disease of the spinal cord or medulla. Its pathological features are glial hyperplasia and cavity formation in the pulp. The main clinical symptoms are isolated sensory disturbances in the damaged stage, progressive muscle weakness and atrophy, and scoliosis.

Spinal cord disease

Spinal cord compression refers to the clinical syndrome of spinal cord dysfunction caused by compression of the spinal cord or blood vessels supplying the spinal cord by various pathological changes. The causes of spinal cord compression include swelling and pain, congenital disease, trauma, such as spinal fracture and dislocation, disc herniation, vertebral stenosis, traumatic hematoma, etc. inflammation, such as spinal tuberculosis, intravertebral tuberculosis, Others, such as cysts, hypertrophy of the cervical spine. The main clinical manifestations of spinal cord compression are tumors, which are the most common cause of spinal cord compression. The disease progresses slowly and paralysis occurs gradually. Nerve root pain is often the earliest symptom of extramedullary tumors. It is characterized by tingling, burning, or scalpel-like pain. Unilateral lower extremity incomplete paralysis, paraplegia, or quadriplegia may occur depending on the stage of the disease and the level of the lesion. Complete manifestation of flexion paraplegia. For acute spinal cord injury (such as trauma, myelitis, etc.), all reflexes disappear, incontinence, and pain and temperature disappear.

Spinal cord disease

Spinal vascular diseases are far less common than cerebrovascular diseases. The lesions are more common in the mid-thoracic or lower neck. Acute root pain occurs at the level of the lesion, paraplegia occurs within a short period of time, and the loss of pain and temperature sensations that impair the spinal cord and thalamus tract conduction below the plane .

Spinal cord disease Motor neuron disease

"Motor neuron disease" refers to a group of progressive degenerative diseases that choose to invade the spinal cord anterior horn cells and the lower brainstem motor nucleus and the cerebral motor cortex pyramidal cells. The clinical manifestations are different degrees of muscle weakness, muscle atrophy, medulla paralysis, and pyramidal tract signs and feel completely normal. A few family cases show autosomal dominant inheritance. Progressive bulbar palsy usually begins after middle age. Patients often experience pharyngeal palsy, hoarseness, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, saliva outflow, choking due to food or soup immersed in the trachea when eating or drinking, or soup Coming out of the nostrils. Cough weakness, sputum is difficult to cough, and breathing is difficult. Examination reveals that the soft palate cannot be lifted, pharyngeal reflex disappears, one or both sides of the tongue muscles atrophy, the tongue surface has obvious wrinkles, the texture is soft, and tongue muscles atrophy . Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, this type is the most common, more common in people over 40 years of age, upper limb muscle atrophy, weakness, muscle bundle tremor and tendon reflexes are often preserved in the early stages. Spastic paralysis of the lower limbs. Walking inflexibly, with scissors-like gait, hypertenoid reflex, and symptoms of bulbar palsy can also occur, ranging from one year to more than ten years. "Progressive spinal atrophy." It usually starts around the age of 30. Patients with insidious attacks have weakness in one or both of the hand muscles and atrophy of the intermuscular muscles. Muscle atrophy can spread upward to the forearm. There may be obvious muscle bundle tremor, tendon reflexes are weakened or disappeared, and this type of disease progresses slowly.