Acute transverse myelitis caused by ECHO virus type 18 infection.

UNLABELLED

A 14-year-old boy developed acute quadriplegia, associated with sensory impairment and bowel and urinary dysfunction. MRI of the cervical cord showed diffuse increased signal intensity on T2-weighted images with gadolinium-diethylenetriamine penta-acetic acid enhancement. Based on the clinical presentation and MRI findings, the diagnosis of acute transverse myelitis was made. Enterovirus RNA was amplified from CSF by the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Serum neutralizing antibody to ECHO virus type 18 rose from 1/4 on admission to 1/16 2 months later.

CONCLUSION

This is the first reported case of acute transverse myelitis caused by ECHO virus type 18 infection.