cervical myelopathy left untreated

coble · Newbie Joined: 18 May 2005 Posts: 15

Can you please explain to me what could happen if cervical myelopathy stays untreated? My mother has been diagnosed with it and it seems that she has had it for a while, so I was wondering if this would influence her life quality and what can be done. Her doctor is still performing some tests and we haven’t been told everything.

schade · Newbie Joined: 07 Feb 2005 Posts: 21

Yes, it is true that cervical myelopathy can often be misdiagnosed or just missed and thorough examination needs to be done in order to make sure. The problem is that I can’t tell you much since cervical myelopathy could be caused by a number of different things. The most common causes are spondylosis, degenerative arthritis or rheumatoid arthritis causing cpinal cord compression, it could be from tumors within the spinal cord, vascular malformations or some neurological diseases. I suppose your mother’s symptoms ween’t very severe since you didn’t notice it earlier and I guess that her doctor will suggest some kind of treatment depending on the exact cause. Not seldom, treatment include surgery and in cases when cervical myelopathy progresses and is not treated, it could lead to permanent spinal cord damage and the nerves as well. Following the doctor’s orders and working closely with him/her would be the best thing to do. Ask them whatever you want to know.

cervical myelopathy left untreated

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