undiagnosed brother

    
      Re: undiagnosed brother
    


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Posted by ccf neuro M.D.* on September 13, 1997 at 20:11:39:

In Reply to: undiagnosed brother posted by chanie on September 10, 1997 at 23:06:39:
  
  I wonder if anyone has any ideas about what is wrong with my brother.  His entire upper left side of his body just went numb.  His leg feels like lead but at least he can walk on it.  He had a "pins and needles" sensation in his arm and is now in the hospital.  They did some MRI's and found a tiny little spot on it that might be an inflamation (inflammation) pressing down on the nerves.  The day this whole thing started he had gone bowlin, I don't konw if there is a connection) They have been giving him steroids and the pins and needles are gone but his left side is still pretty numb.  One doctor said that it's some kind of a virus -- any ideas as to what it might be?  They say that the steroids are working v e r y  s l o w l y but that it is going in the right direction.  I don't know if it is really getting any better.  any ideas on the matter?
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There is a syndrome called TRANSVERSE MYELITIS, or inflammation of the spine, that your brother's symptoms seem to fit into. Causes of it include  immunologic or post-infectious, in which case it often follows a virus or other infection, multiple sclerosis, Devic's disease, and a virus known as human T-cell lymphocte virus #1 (HTLV-1). This might be the virus your brother's doctor is referring to, although usually one has to travel overseas to catch it. There are some other diseases that can rarely cause it as well, but they USUALLY affect other organs in the body as well, but sometimes the brain or spinal cord is the first affected organ to cause symptoms. The use of corticosteroid medications (usually intavenous methylprednisolone/ Solumedrol) is the usual treatment, with the goal of minimizing the inflammation as much as possible. Often, but not always, there is significant recovery of function after treatment, although this may not be immediately apparent.
If things do not go well for your brother and he wishes to seek a second opinion, we do have a center here at the Cleveland Clinic known as the Mellen Center, which is devoted entirely to the treatment of neuroimmunologic diseases such as multiple sclerosis and related disorders (transverse myelitis falls into this category). I would suggest Dr. Rudick, Kinkel, or Cohen in particular.
Information provided on the neurology forum is intended for general medical informational purposes only. Actual diagnosis and treatment of your brother's condition should be strictly in conjunction with his treating physician(s). We hope you find the information useful.