Infection-Related Myelopathies
Recent years have seen growing attention to inflammatory and infectious disorders of the spinal cord, not only due to the discovery of autoantibody-mediated disorders of the spinal cord [e.g., aquaporin-4 immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein IgG antibodies], but also due to the emergence of clusters of infection-related myelopathy, now known as acute flaccid myelitis. We review the spectrum of infection-related myelopathies and outline a nosological classification system based on association with infection. We describe the epidemiology and definitions of myelopathies, with a discussion of clinical presentation and neuroimaging features, and then turn to specific discussion of myelopathies due to direct pathogen invasion and those considered to be post- or parainfectious. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Pathology: Mechanisms of Disease, Volume 17 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.