CERVICAL MYELOPATHY SYMPTOMS TO WATCH FOR EARLY DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF THIS SPINE CONDITION IMPROVES OUTCOMES. HERE’S WHEN TO SEEK MEDICAL HELP.
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hen daily activities like writing or holding a utensil become difficult, or you start to feel unsteady on your feet, don’t dismiss the symptoms. According to Ananth Eleswarapu, MD, an orthopedic spine surgeon with Montefiore Einstein, these could be signs of cervical myelopathy, which can and should be treated. Approximately 20,000 people with symptoms of cervical myelopathy visit the hospital in the United States each year. ANANTH ELESWARAPU, MD
Myelopathy is a condition in which there is dysfunction of the spinal cord. It can result from many different things, including infection, tumors or compression of the spinal cord due to bones or disc herniations. Cervical myelopathy refers to dysfunction of the part of the spinal cord in the neck.
WHAT CAUSES MYELOPATHY?
Myelopathy can result from any condition that causes injury to the spinal cord. This includes viral infections, tumors, autoimmune conditions (in which the body’s immune system attacks the spinal cord), or compression of the spinal cord. It is important to find out what is causing the myelopathy
to occur, as the treatment will be different for each cause. The most common cause of myelopathy is cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM)—this is when bone or soft tissue structures are pushing on the spinal cord. Almost all people will develop stenosis or compression of the spinal cord with age due to herniated discs, bone spurs or overgrown ligaments. Only a small minority of people develop symptoms of myelopathy. We don’t know why spinal cord compression causes no symptoms in most people and severe symptoms in a select few. Our spine team at Montefiore is engaged in research using multimodal artificial intelligence to try to understand
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