Get answers to your specific medical questions from UM Medical Center experts.
Syphilitic myelopathy is a complication of untreated syphilis that involves muscle weakness and abnormal sensations .
Syphilitic myelopathy is a form of neurosyphilis , which is a progressive, life-threatening complication of late or tertiary syphilis infection. The condition called 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 also referred to as "lightning pains."
In syphilitic myelopathy, the muscle problems are accompanied by other symptoms characteristic of nervous system damage caused by syphilis. These include vision changes, stroke, and psychiatric illness.
Syphilitic myelopathy is now very rare because syphilis is usually treated early in the disease or as a result of screening blood tests that identify the disease in its latent (silent) form. Such blood tests are performed, for example, on individuals who donate blood.
|
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org). URAC's accreditation program is the first of its kind, requiring compliance with 53 standards of quality and accountability, verified by independent audit. A.D.A.M. is among the first to achieve this important distinction for online health information and services. Learn more about A.D.A.M.'s editorial process . A.D.A.M. is also a founding member of Hi-Ethics (www.hiethics.com) and subscribes to the principles of the Health on the Net Foundation (www.hon.ch). |