Acute transverse myelitis in puerperal women

Abstract

Transverse myelitis is a pathology, whose etiology is associated with autoimmune or infectious diseases, which directly affects the spinal cord, coursing with motor, sensory and acute or subacute dysfunction9. We report a case of a 32-year-old multiparous woman who, after the first postpartum day, reported pain and paresthesia in the lumbar and lower limbs with progressive worsening. Patient started clinical investigation, with orthopedic causes ruled out, together with the neurology and neurosurgery team. She underwent magnetic resonance imaging of the thoracic and lumbar spine where infectious neuropathy was evidenced at L4-L5. Patient was transferred to a referral hospital where Mycobacterium tuberculosis was evidenced as the cause and, when performing a rapid test for SARS-CoV-2, it was positive.