The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
2016 , Vol 58 , Num 3
Neuromyelitis optica mimics the morphology of spinal cord tumors
1 Divisions of Pediatric Neurology, Başkent University Faculty of Medicine, Adana, Turkey2 Department of Pediatrics, Başkent University Faculty of Medicine, Adana, Turkey
3 Department of Radiology, Başkent University Faculty of Medicine, Adana, Turkey
4 Department Neurosurgery, Başkent University Faculty of Medicine, Adana, Turkey
5 Divisions of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Başkent University Faculty of Medicine, Adana, Turkey DOI : 10.24953/turkjped.2016.03.014 Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an autoimmune disorder of the central nervous system, that predominantly affects the spinal cord and the optic nerve. Its key features include transverse myelitis, commonly associated with extensive inflammation spanning three or more consecutive vertebral segments. Longitudinal extensive spinal cord lesions can also occur in systemic autoimmune diseases, infections, vascular and metabolic disorders, subsequent to irradiation, intramedullary tumors and paraneoplastic myelopathies. We present a case study of an 8-year-old girl seropositive for antibodies against the aquaporin 4 who displayed longitudinal extensive spinal cord lesions, that was initially misdiagnosed as an intramedullary tumor. Keywords : neuromyelitis optica, intramedullary tumor, longitudinally extensive spinal cord lesions, transverse myelitis