What are the symptoms of neuromyelitis?

Disease is a great destructive factor to people's lives. For example, neuromyelitis is a disease with a very big impact. It can cause extreme pain in the patient's body. In addition, inflammation of the spinal nerves is very difficult to treat, and the treatment process is also very long. Let's take a look at the symptoms of neuromyelitis. I hope everyone can understand.

Neuromyelitis optica is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system that primarily affects the optic nerves and spinal cord. The main clinical feature is the simultaneous or sequential involvement of the optic nerve and spinal cord. The disease can occur at any age, with an average age of 30 to 40 years old, and is more common in women. Currently, single-phase neuromyelitis optica is usually called Devic's disease, and multi-phase neuromyelitis optica is called relapsing neuromyelitis optica.

Clinical manifestations

The onset is generally acute or subacute, reaching its peak within a few days and 1 to 2 months respectively. In a minority of patients with chronic onset, the condition steadily progresses over several months and worsens progressively.

1. Optic nerve damage

Both eyes are often affected simultaneously or successively. Initially, vision is reduced and the eyeball is swollen and painful, which is more obvious when the eye moves. In acute cases, the affected eye suffers partial or complete loss of vision within hours or days. The main visual field changes are central scotoma and centripetal narrowing of the visual field, and hemianopsia or quadrantanopsia may also occur.

2. Spinal cord damage

It manifests as complete transverse lesions of the spinal cord. Within hours to days, the motor, sensory and autonomic nerve functions of both sides of the spinal cord are severely impaired, and movement disorders can rapidly progress to paraplegia or quadriplegia. If the lesion is in the cervical segment, a positive Lhermitte sign may appear. In severe cases, severe demyelination causes the nerve impulse to spread, leading to painful spasms and paroxysmal convulsions.

3. Other symptoms

A small number of patients may experience optic nerve and extraspinal symptoms, such as dizziness, facial numbness, nystagmus, headache, and postural tremor. A very small number of patients may experience extraocular muscle paralysis, epilepsy, ataxia, dysarthria and peripheral nerve damage.