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Episodic spastic paraparesis successfully treated with unaided blood transfusions: a case report
Loku Pathirage Manoji Muditha Kumari Pathirage1, Indunil Wijeweera2, Chandrika Jayasinghe3
1Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. manojipathi@yahoo.com.
Background:
Extramedullary haemopoiesis is a common compensatory phenomenon in most haemolytic anaemias. However, spinal cord compression due to extramedullary spinal epidural haemopoiesis is an extremely rare complication of thalassemia. In such situation patients present with paraplegia with a sensory level. Usual treatment options are surgery and/or radiotherapy.
Case Presentation:
Here we report a 27 year old Sri Lankan Muslim male with haemoglobin E-Beta thalassaemia presented with episodic spastic paraparesis when he was anaemic which was dramatically responded to blood transfusion therapy.
Conclusion:
Most of the reported cases with paraplegia have been treated with surgery with or without radiation therapy or radiation therapy alone. Our patient makes dramatic recovery after blood transfusion in each presentation.
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