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Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 18e
| Part 17. Neurologic Disorders > Section 2. Diseases of the Central Nervous System > |
Chapter 377. Diseases of the Spinal Cord
Sections: Diseases of the Spinal Cord: Introduction, Acute and Subacute Spinal Cord Diseases, Chronic Myelopathies, Rehabilitation of Spinal Cord Disorders, Further Readings.
Topics Discussed: spinal cord diseases; spinal cord; lesion.
Excerpt:"Diseases of the spinal cord are frequently devastating. They produce quadriplegia, paraplegia, and sensory deficits far beyond the damage they would inflict elsewhere in the nervous system because the spinal cord contains, in a small cross-sectional area, almost the entire motor output and sensory input of the trunk and limbs. Many spinal cord diseases are reversible if recognized and treated at an early stage (Table 377-1); thus, they are among the most critical of neurologic emergencies. The efficient use of diagnostic procedures, guided by knowledge of the anatomy and the clinical features of spinal cord diseases, is required for a successful outcome.The spinal cord is a thin, tubular extension of the central nervous system contained within the bony spinal canal. It originates at the medulla and continues caudally to the conus medullaris at the lumbar level; its fibrous extension, the filum terminale, terminates at the coccyx. The adult spinal cord is ~;46 cm (18 in.) long, oval in shape, and enlarged in the cervical and lumbar regions, where neurons that innervate the upper and lower extremities, respectively, are located. The white matter tracts containing ascending sensory and descending motor pathways are located peripherally, whereas nerve cell bodies..."
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