Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Schistosoma mansoni co-infection in a young patient with extensive longitudinal acute transverse myelitis

INTRODUCTION

Acute transverse myelitis is an uncommon inflammatory, intramedullary, disorder of the spinal cord. Spastic paraplegia, impaired sphincter functions, and sensory loss, with sensory level, are the clinical manifestations of this devastating disorder. The utilization of magnetic resonant imaging (MRI) contributes to the surge in the diagnosis of more ATM cases. Although the causes of ATM are numerous, both Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Schistosoma mansoni are uncommon causes and their co-existence in the same patient has not been reported before in Saudi Arabia.

CASE

We report a 25-year-old ATM male patient presented with a history of sudden onset severe low back pain. Within four hours from the onset of the back pain, he became completely paraplegic with impaired functions of the bowel and urinary bladder sphincter. Furthermore, he lost all modalities of sensory functions in the lower limbs. His examination revealed spastic complete paraplegia with sensory level at T6. Clinical neurological examination revealed normal upper limbs and brain functions. The MRI of the cervico-dorsal spine showed extensive longitudinal hyperintense lesion extending from the upper cervical segments to the lower dorsal segments (extensive longitudinal transverse myelitis). A post-infectious immune-mediated predisposition was highly suspected due to the very high titers of anti-Mycoplasma pneumoniae IgM and IgG that were detected. The immunosuppressant therapy did not improve his paraplegia. A spinal cord biopsy revealed the presence of several Schistosoma mansoni ova surrounded by chronic inflammatory reactions and reactive gliosis.

CONCLUSIONS

Both Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Schistosoma mansoni should be investigated in cases with extensive longitudinal ATM.

Longitudinal Extensive Transverse Myelitis in an Immunocompetent Older Individual-A Rare Complication of Varicella-Zoster Virus Reactivation

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is a human neurotropic herpes virus that causes chickenpox in children. After becoming latent in dorsal root ganglia, it can reactivate to cause dermatological manifestations, the most common one being shingles or herpes zoster. Severe neurologic dysfunctions can occur in immunocompromised patients such as encephalitis, meningitis, myelitis and neuropathy. Longitudinal extensive transverse myelitis (LETM) is an unusual neurological complication mainly described in immunocompromised patients, with very few cases described in immunocompetent ones. We hereby report a case of VZV-induced LETM in an immunocompetent older adult—a situation rarely described in the literature. LETM is a rare complication of VZV and its pathogenesis; therapeutic interventions and prognosis are far from being fully clarified. However, a prompt diagnosis is needed to allow a rapid initialization of treatment and ensure a better outcome. Although the therapeutic lines are not clear, immunosuppressive agents may have their place in cases of unsuccessful results and/or relapses following acyclovir coupled with a well conducted methylprednisolone therapy. Further studies are highly needed to improve the current understanding of the disease course and mechanisms, and to optimize therapeutic strategies.

Longitudinal Myelitis of a Neuro-Behçet Patient

Behçet's disease is a chronic, relapsing inflammatory disorder of unknown etiology. Neuro-Behçet's disease (NBD) occurs in approximately 5 to 49% of patients with Behçet's disease. Spinal cord involvement is very rare in NBD. In this article, we report a 22-year-old male patient of NBD with longitudinal myelitis involving the entire spinal cord. Patient was admitted with one-week of headache, vomiting, and urinary incontinence. Before admission, he felt motor weakness for two years and had noticed recurrent genital and oral ulcers with a frequency of more than three episodes per year for five years. T2-weighted spinal magnetic resonance images showed hyperintensities within the entire spinal cord. He was diagnosed as NBD with longitudinal myelitis. Intravenous methylprednisolone (120 mg/day) was administered for three days, followed by an oral administration of prednisolone (45 mg/day). In conjunction with the steroid therapy, intravenous cyclophosphamide (0.4 g/week) was administered twice. Rapid improvements were detected after receiving treatments for half a month. NBD associated longitudinal myelitis is really rare. This case provided important implications for the diagnosis and treatment of longitudinal myelitis in NBD patients.