Ency. home > Disease > S > Syphilitic myelopathy

Syphilitic myelopathy   

Overview | Symptoms | Treatment | Prevention

Alternative names:

Tabes dorsalis

Definition:

A disorder characterized by muscle weakness and abnormal sensations; it can develop in untreated syphilis infections.

Causes and Risks

Syphilitic myelopathy is a form of neurosyphilis, which is a progressive, life-threatening complication of late or tertiary syphilis infection. Tabes dorsalis includes syphilitic myelopathy and additional symptoms of nerve damage.

The infection damages the tissue of the spinal cord and peripheral nervous tissue. This causes decreased muscle function (myelopathy), including progressive weakness of the legs, arms, and other areas. Loss of function may eventually result in paralysis. Coordination difficulties contribute to problems walking. There are often changes in sensation, including painful paresthesia (abnormal sensations), which are often referred to as "lightning pains."

Tabes dorsalis is an entity that often coexists with syphilitic myelopathy. The muscle problems are accompanied by other symptoms characteristic of nervous system damage caused by syphilis. These include vision changes, strokes, and psychiatric illness.

Syphilitic myelopathy is now very rare, as syphilis is usually treated either early on in the disease, or is treated as a result of screening blood tests that identify the disease in its "latent" or silent form. Such blood tests are performed, for example, on individuals who donate blood.

Ency. home > Disease > S > Syphilitic myelopathy

[an error occurred while processing this directive]