Why the study?
Does spinal cord MRI predict clinical outcome in patients with acute transverse myelitis?
Does spinal cord MRI predict clinical outcome in patients with acute transverse myelitis?
In patients with acute transverse myelitis, a normal spinal cord MRI is a strong prognostic indicator for complete or near-complete clinical recovery.
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Normal MRI may predict recovery in acute transverse myelitis; hypothesis-generating and requires prospective validation before guiding care.
The prognostic value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the syndrome of acute transverse myelitis had not been evaluated. After retrospective study of 14 cases, we found that MRI is valuable for both diagnosis and prognosis in this illness. The criteria for the diagnosis of acute transverse myelitis consisted of acute onset (over less than 3 weeks) of symmetrical motor and sensory dysfunction referable to a distinct spinal cord level, with sphincter dysfunction. Patients with abnormal MRIs of the spinal cord had significantly worse outcomes than patients with normal MRIs.
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Scott et al. (1994) studied this question.
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