Clinical Characterization of Patients with Myelopathies in the Neurology Service at Hermanos Ameijeiras Surgical Clinical Hospital
Keywords:
spinal cord, myelopathies, multiple sclerosis, motor neuron disease, cervical spondylotic myelopathy, transverse myelitisAbstract
Introduction: Myelopathy is the general term that describes any disease that affects the spinal cord.
Objective: To clinically characterize patients with myelopathies.
Methods: An observational, descriptive, retrospective study was carried out in patients admitted to the neurology service at Hermanos Ameijeiras Surgical Clinical Hospital from 2005 to 2020.
Results: Patients in the fifth decade of life and females predominated (25.6% and 51.5%, respectively). The chronic installation form (55.6%) was the most common, paraparesis/paraplegia (60.8%), anterolateral syndrome (41.9%) and the absence of sphincter involvement (55.9%) were those of higher frequency. Multiple sclerosis (13.7%), motor neuron diseases (12.9%), and spondylotic myelopathy (11.9%) were the leading causes of spinal cord damage among study subjects. Medical treatment was the most used. At the time of admission, moderate disability predominated (51.2%), which was maintained at discharge with the same classification on the scale of the American Association of Spine Injuries (53.4%), followed by those who improved (35.6%). The etiology with the best evolution at discharge was multiple sclerosis (10.3%) and the worst was extradural tumors (3.9%).
Conclusions: Paraparesis, anterolateral spinal syndrome and the form of chronic installation characterize the patients with myelopathies included in the study, whose main etiology is multiple sclerosis and conservative treatment is the most used. Prompt and timely action is required from the first moment spinal cord involvement is diagnosed to avoid disability and serious financial losses that impact the quality of life of patients and their families.Downloads
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