RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 A practical approach to the diagnosis of spinal cord lesions
JF Practical Neurology
JO Pract Neurol
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP practneurol-2017-001845
DO 10.1136/practneurol-2017-001845
A1 Romina Mariano
A1 Eoin P Flanagan
A1 Brain G Weinshenker
A1 Jacqueline Palace
YR 2018
UL http://pn.bmj.com/content/early/2018/03/02/practneurol-2017-001845.abstract
AB Every neurologist will be familiar with the patient with atypical spinal cord disease and the challenges of taking the diagnosis forward. This is predominantly because of the limited range of possible clinical and investigation findings making most individual features non-specific. The difficulty in obtaining a tissue diagnosis further contributes and patients are often treated empirically based on local prevalence and potential for reversibility. This article focuses on improving the diagnosis of adult non-traumatic, non-compressive spinal cord disorders. It is structured to start with the clinical presentation in order to be of practical use to the clinician. We aim, by combining the onset phenotype with the subsequent course, along with imaging and laboratory features, to improve the diagnostic process.