Hepatic Myelopathy with Painful Tonic Spasm: A Case Report

Huanquan Liao; Zhichao Yan; Guidian Li; Hua Hong

doi:10.4236/oalib.1102078

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Open Access Library Journal > Vol.2 No.10, October 2015

Hepatic Myelopathy with Painful Tonic Spasm: A Case Report ()

Huanquan Liao^1*, Zhichao Yan², Guidian Li^3*, Hua Hong^1*

¹Department of Neurology, First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
²State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
³Department of Radiology, East Hospital, First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.

DOI: 10.4236/oalib.1102078 PDF HTML XML 992 Downloads 1,255 Views

Abstract

Hepatic myelopathy (HM) is a rare neurological complication of chronic liver disease, causing progressive spastic paraplegia or quadriplegia in the extremities with minimal sensory or sphincter impairment. In this article, the authors present one additional case with HM, with an exceptional clinical picture of painful tonic spasms within both thighs as the main complaint. A reduction in pain coinciding with a reduction in spasticity from treatments such as baclofen suggests a causal relationship between the two. We stress the importance of early recognizing this symptom before the spinal cord damage becomes irreversible.

Keywords

Hepatic Myelopathy, Painful Tonic Spasms, Upper Motor Neuron Syndrome

Share and Cite:

Liao, H. , Yan, Z. , Li, G. and Hong, H. (2015) Hepatic Myelopathy with Painful Tonic Spasm: A Case Report. Open Access Library Journal, 2, 1-6. doi: 10.4236/oalib.1102078.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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