Abstract
Myelopathy is a broad term used to describe a heterogeneous group of disorders that
affects the spinal cord; the focus of this article will be a subgroup of these disorders
with an autoimmune and inflammatory-based pathology. Symptoms typically develop over
hours or days and then worsen over a matter of days to weeks, but sometimes can have
a more insidious or subacute presentation, which can make the diagnosis more puzzling.
Despite relatively low incidence rates, almost a third of affected patients are left
with severely disabling symptoms. Prompt recognition of the underlying etiology is
essential so that a specific targeted therapy can be implemented for optimal outcomes.
The authors discuss a systematic approach to immune-mediated myelopathies, with a
focus on the unique characteristics of each that may aid in diagnosis.
Keywords
myelopathy - autoimmune - myelitis - multiple sclerosis - neuromyelitis optica - neurosarcoidosis
- MOG-related disease - ADEM - paraneoplastic - parainfectious
