Myelopathy

What it means

Myelopathy is an descriptive term, referring to pathology leading to a neurologic deficit related to the spinal cord. The clinical diagnosis of myelopathy requires a detailed history and physical examination to define the clinical syndrome. Neuroimaging is indicated in most instances of new-onset myelopathy. It is indicated also when the worsening of a myelopathy is unexplained.

This is a descriptive term that should not be used for new annotations. If possible, choose a more precise HPO term that describes the actual observed abnormality.The most frequent etiology of myelopathy is related to degenerative disease of the spine. This can be due to compression of the spinal cord by an osteophyte or extruded disc material in the cervical spine or, less often, in the thoracic spine. Subsequent to degenerative etiology, the next common etiologies are spinal cord compression due to extradural masses caused by metastatic disease to bone or blunt trauma. There are also primary neoplastic, infectious, inflammatory, neurodegenerative, vascular, nutritional, and idiopathic disorders that lead to myelopathy.

Rare diseases that can present with this11

The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.

Part of the broader category