Clinical review for general practice

Recently, COVID-19-associated acute myelitis has begun to attract attention, because it is a rare but severe complication of coronavirus infection. Acute myelitis is an inflammatory disorder of the spinal cord, covering a large part of its diameter, with damage to the grey and white matter, clinically manifested by motor, sensory and autonomic dysfunction. The pathogenesis of COVID-19-associated myelitis is primarily a result of hyperreactive system inflammatory response and secondary autoimmune-mediated spinal cord damage; however, direct virus infiltration of the central nervous system is also possible. This article describes a clinical case of COVID-19-associated acute myelitis, analyzes the features of clinical symptoms, the course and diagnosis of the disease in the patient and the effectiveness of conventional therapy.