Journal of the Chinese Medical Association
Volume 71, Issue 7 , Pages 368-372, July 2008

Reversible Myelopathy on Magnetic Resonance Imaging Due to Cobalamin Deficiency

  • Wei-Ju Lee

      Affiliations

    • Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan, R.O.C.
    • ,
  • Hung-Yi Hsu

      Affiliations

    • Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan, R.O.C.
    • National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
    • ,
  • Pao-Yu Wang

      Affiliations

    • Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan, R.O.C.
    • National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorrespondence to: Dr Pao-Yu Wang, Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, 160, Section 3, Taichung-Kang Road, Taichung 407, Taiwan, R.O.C

Received 3 October 2007; accepted 29 February 2008.

Article Outline

Subacute combined degeneration (SCD) is known as myelopathy due to vitamin B12 deficiency. SCD always involves the posterior and lateral columns of the spinal cord, with the neuropathologic change showing vacuolation of the white matter. We describe 2 patients who presented with ataxic gait, impaired proprioception over limbs, and even mental change due to vitamin B12 deficiency. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the cervical spine showed increased signal intensity on T2-weighted imaging, and laboratory data showed low serum vitamin B12 level. The 2 patients were treated with vitamin B12 injection intramuscularly. There was clinical improvement after treatment along with normalization of the MRI.

Key Words:  magnetic resonance imaging , myelopathy , subacute combined degeneration , vitamin B12 deficiency

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PII: S1726-4901(08)70142-4

doi:10.1016/S1726-4901(08)70142-4

Journal of the Chinese Medical Association
Volume 71, Issue 7 , Pages 368-372, July 2008

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