aetiology

Last reviewed 01/2018

The common causes of paraplegia are:

  • trauma
  • demyelination
  • malignant disease
  • spondylosis

Rare causes of paraplegia include:

  • cerebral palsy
  • spinal cord infarction / spinal artery occlusion
  • "bends"
  • subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord
  • syringomyelia
  • motor neurone disease
  • intrinsic cord glioma
  • radiation myelopathy
  • arterio-venous malformation
  • extradural abscess
  • prolapse of a thoracic intervertebral disc
  • neurofibroma
  • meningioma
  • atlanto-axial subluxation in rheumatoid arthritis
  • hereditary spastic paraplegia
  • poliomyelitis
  • Friedreich's ataxia
  • Guillain-Barre syndrome
  • sagittal sinus syndrome
  • hysteria