Table 3 Differential diagnosis for transverse myelitis [7, 9]
From: Case report: “an unexpected origin of coma in a young adult”
Demyelinating disorders | • Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) o Optico-spinal form of Asian MS (OSMS) • Multiple sclerosis o Confluent short segment lesions mimicking LESCL • Anti-MOG associated encephalomyelitis • Autoimmune GFAP astrocytopathy • Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) |
Inflammatory/autoimmune/dysimmune | • Neurosarcoidosis • Sjögren syndrome • Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) • Behçet disease • Mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) • Antiphospholipid antibody syndrome |
Vascular | • Spinal cord infarction • Dural arteriovenous fistula (dAVF) |
Post-infectious | • Bacterial o Treponema pallidum, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Borrelia burgdorferi, Camylobacter jejuni, Acinetobacter baumanii,Leptospira, Chlamydia pneumoniae, Legionella pneumonia, Salmonella paratyphi B, Brucellosis melitensis, Groups A and B streptococci. • Viral o Herpes simplex virus type-2 (HSV), Varicella-zoster virus (VZV), Cytomegalovirus (CMV), Dengue virus, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), Hepatitis A and C, Measles, Mumps, Influenza A virus (including H1N1), Coxasckieviruses A and B, Enterovirus-70 and -71, Echoviruses, Poliovirus 1, 2 and 3, West Nile virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, Tick-borne encephalitis virus, St. Louis encephalitis virus • Parasitical o Neurocystercosis, Schistosoma, Echinococcus granulosus, Toxoplasma gondii, Acanthamoeba species, Paragonimus westermani, Trypanosoma brucei, Gnasthostoma angio-strongylosis • Fungal o Actinomyces, Coccidioides immitis, Aspergillus, Blastomyces, Cryptococcus |
Other causes | • Paraneoplastic myelitis • Idiopathic (aquaporin-4 negative) |