Viral infection of the spinal cord and roots.

This article summarizes myelopathy and radiculopathy caused by different viruses. The cases described are divided into three categories: acute myelitis and radiculitis, postinfectious myelopathy and radiculopathy, and chronic myelopathy. Some diseases present with characteristic imaging findings. For example, varicella zoster virus tends to injure the dorsal column, whereas poliovirus tends to injure the frontal horns. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is an essential tool in diagnosis. However, because imaging findings are often nonspecific, consideration of a combination of diagnostic procedures, including the clinical course, symptoms, and laboratory data, is necessary for making a correct diagnosis.