Acute transverse myelitis caused by Coxsackie virus B4 infection: a case report

Abstract

Acute transverse myelitis is a rare clinical manifestation of Coxsackie virus infection which cause acute and progressive debilitating illness associated with loss of spinal cord function in the affected patients. A 62 year-old female developed symptoms of rapidly progressive paraplegia with sensory loss. On spinal MRI, T2 sagittal image showed increased signal intensity with cord swelling at T11-L2 level and 8 folds or greater rise of Coxsackie virus B4 neutralizing antibody titers was observed in the CSF. There is only one previous report of acute transverse myelitis caused by Coxsackie virus B4 infection to our knowledge. The presence of specific viral antibody titers change in the CSF and a corresponding spinal cord lesion are sufficient to suggest a causal relationship between the virus and the illness. This article is a case report of an unusual acute transverse myelitis caused by Coxsackie virus B4 infection.