Primary Sjogren's Syndrome Associated with Recurrent Transverse Myelitis.
10.4078/jkra.2008.15.3.244
- Author:
Han Hee LEE
1
;
Sung Hwan PARK
Author Information
1. Department of Internal Medicine, Kangnam St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea. rapark@catholic.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Case Report
- Keywords:
Sjogren's syndrome;
Transverse myelitis
- MeSH:
Female;
Humans
- From:The Journal of the Korean Rheumatism Association
2008;15(3):244-249
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
Sjogren's syndrome is a chronic autoimmune disorder due to lymphocytes infiltrations of the exocrine glands and is clinically characterized by dry eyes and dry mouth. Though Sjogren's syndrome can affect the nervous system, acute transverse myelitis is an extremely rare CNS complication that progresses rapidly, and requires early diagnosis and therapy. Here, we report a 49-year-old female who had primary Sjogren's syndrome that manifested itself as acute transverse myelitis. She presented with motor weakness and hypesthesia of her right lower extremity. During her first attack, MRI of the spine revealed high signal intensities on T2-weighted images in her spinal cord at the levels of C6 through T11. Symptoms improved after 5 days of intravenous methylprednisolone (1 g/day) therapy, but recurred 9 months later. She had another MRI which showed acute transverse myelitis involving the spinal cord at the levels of C2 to T8. Her symptoms remained well controlled with treatment consisting of 5 days of methylpredisolone infusion (1 g/day) and concomitant intravenous cyclophosphamide 750 mg every 4 weeks.
