Prognosis

Friday, 18 February 2005 17:43
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Arachnoiditis has been described as an insidious disease that is incurable.

Guyer's paper on the prognosis of arachnoiditis ([i]) suggests that there tends to be a spectrum of the course of the disease, which varies from mild and non-progressive, to a fulminating progression that may cause paralysis and even death.

Wilkinson ([ii]) believes that progression after the first 24 months is unlikely to be due to the disease process alone.

Most authors state that its onset may be years after the precipitating cause.

In general, arachnoiditis presents a highly variable clinical picture, with a fluctuating course.


[i] Guyer DW, Wiltse LL, Eskay ML and Guyer BH. Spine 1989 Dec; 14(12): 1332-1341 The long range prognosis of arachnoiditis.

 

[ii] Wilkinson HA Alternative therapies for the Failed Back Syndrome in The Adult Spine, JW Frymoyer ed.1991