Abstract
Gait difficulties or focal weakness in children that evolves over hours to days has a broad differential diagnosis. Possible causes of new-onset weakness include infectious, orthopedic, rheumatologic, and traumatic etiologies unique to the pediatric age group as well as neurologic disorders involving the muscles, peripheral nerves, or central nervous system. A focused history and neurologic examination with serial reassessments over time are essential for localization as laboratory and imaging studies may be normal initially. The presence of a neurogenic bladder and a sensory level strongly points to spinal cord involvement. Emergent spinal cord MRI may be needed to rule out an acute compressive cord lesion that requires surgical intervention.
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Paudel, S., Ness, J.M. (2017). Complete Transverse Myelitis (Idiopathic). In: Waubant, E., Lotze, T. (eds) Pediatric Demyelinating Diseases of the Central Nervous System and Their Mimics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61407-6_29
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61407-6_29
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