Etiologic Spectrum and Prognosis of Longitudinally Extensive Transverse Myelopathies

Background: Patients with a first episode of longitudinal extensive transverse myelopathy (LETM) were reviewed with two objectives: to evaluate the clinical spectrum of LETM and to analyze the related clinical and laboratory variables that can be used as functional prognostic markers. Methods: A retrospective review was conducted of clinical, radiologic and biochemical data of patients admitted for LETM between 1993 and 2011. Results: Our cohort included 72 patients [ median age 41 years, interquartile range (IQR) 29-61.5]. Median follow-up was 34 months (IQR 17.2-63). The modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score was >= 2 at the end of follow-up in 72.2%. The final diagnosis was idiopathic LETM in 22 patients, multiple sclerosis in 18, parainfectious disease in 11, systemic disease in 9, spinal cord infarction and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders in 3 patients each, and acute demyelinating encephalomyelitis, dural fistula, and tumor-related LETM in 2 patients each. Unfavorable out-come was associated with mRS >= 2 at admission [ odds ratio (OR) 1.39, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.16-1.66] and older age (OR 1.06, 95% CI 1.01-1.11). Conclusion: Idiopathic LETM was the most frequent diagnosis at the end of follow-up. Older age and clinically severe disease at onset were independent prognostic factors of poorer functional recovery. (C) 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel