i am diagnosed with myelomalacia at C3-4, had an acdf 8 years ago, it is still there, however i don't have any bleeding. i have read this so many times in my records so i googled it and this is what i found;
Myelomalacia is a pathological term referring to the softening of the spinal cord.
[1] Hemorrhagic infarction (bleeding) of the spinal cord can occur as a sequel to
acute injury, such as that caused by
intervertebral disc extrusion (being forced or pressed out).
[2]
The disorder causes
flaccid paraplegia (impairment of motor function in lower extremities), total
areflexia (below normal or absence of reflexes) of the pelvic limbs and anus, loss of deep pain perception
caudal (toward the coccyx, or tail) to the site of spinal cord injury, muscular
atrophy (wasting away of muscle tissue), depressed mental state, and respiratory difficulty due to
intercostal (muscles that run between the ribs) and diaphragmatic
paralysis.
[3] Gradual
cranial migration of the
neurological deficits (problems relating to the nervous system), is known as ascending syndrome and is said to be a typical feature of diffuse myelomalacia. Although clinical signs of myelomalacia are observed within the onset (start) of paraplegia, sometimes they may become evident only in the post-operative period, or even days after the onset of paraplegia. Death from myelomalacia may occur as a result of respiratory paralysis when the
ascending lesion (abnormal damaged tissue) reaches the
motor nuclei of the
phrenic nerves (nerves between the C3-C5 region of the spine) in the cervical (
neck) region.
[4] happy times huh? i haven't suffocated yet. best of luck to everybody.
i may have it or edema and signal abnormalities at T8-9, T9-10 also