What is bone marrow disease

Bone marrow lesions cause great impact and damage, and may be caused by congenital developmental abnormalities, such as basilar indentation, cerebellar tonsillar herniation, scoliosis, etc. Therefore, most people often think that this disease has a large genetic factor, and it has different types, including spinal cord hemorrhage, spinal cord contusion, and spinal cord compression.

1. Causes

1. Congenital developmental abnormalities: Because this disease is often complicated by other congenital abnormalities such as basilar indentation, cerebellar tonsillar herniation, spina bifida, scoliosis, etc., and often has a tendency to occur in families, it is believed that this disease is related to genetic factors.

2. There is no unified understanding of abnormal cerebrospinal fluid dynamics and its pathogenesis. In clinical work, congenital malformations of the craniocervical junction combined with spinal cord lesions (cerebellar tonsillar herniation malformation is the most common) are common, mostly in the cervical and upper thoracic spinal cord. It is generally believed that cerebellar tonsillar herniation causes poor circulation of cerebrospinal fluid in this area, leading to spinal cord damage.

3. Abnormal blood circulation: Abnormal blood circulation in the spinal cord, such as compression of the anterior spinal artery or obstruction of spinal venous return, causes ischemia, necrosis, and liquefaction of tissues in the spinal cord, ultimately leading to spinal cord lesions. In short, in different cases it is not caused by a single cause, but a syndrome caused by multiple pathogenic factors.

2. Classification

1. Spinal cord hemorrhage or hematoma: refers to bleeding within the spinal cord parenchyma after spinal cord injury, which is more likely to occur in people with vascular malformations. The extent may range from minor punctate bleeding to hematoma formation. For patients with minor bleeding, the spinal cord function may be partially or mostly restored after the hematoma is absorbed; severe hematoma is prone to poor prognosis due to scar formation.

2. Spinal cord contusion: The degree of spinal cord contusion varies greatly, ranging from very mild spinal cord edema, punctate or patchy hemorrhage to extensive spinal cord contusion. As time goes on, changes such as proliferation of glial and fibrous tissue lead to scar formation and spinal cord atrophy, resulting in irreversible consequences.

3. Spinal cord compression: Extramedullary tissue, including fracture fragments, invaginated ligaments, prolapsed nucleus pulposus, hematoma and later bone spurs, bone callus, adhesion bands, scars, etc. as well as foreign objects outside the body can cause direct compression on the spinal cord tissue and lead to spinal cord injury. This compression can cause local ischemia, hypoxia, edema and congestion, thereby changing and aggravating the degree of spinal cord damage.

4. Spinal shock: Unlike spinal concussion, spinal shock is not caused by direct violence acting on the spinal cord. Its clinical manifestations include decreased muscle tone below the injured vertebra, flaccid paralysis of the limbs, disappearance of sensory and skeletal muscle reflexes, inability to elicit pathological reflexes, fecal incontinence and urinary retention, etc.