Arachnoiditis-Its Causes, Symptoms, Types And Treatment

Other Frequent Symptoms

There are also less frequent symptoms that people with arachnoiditis may experience. So what are they? These symptoms may include swelling of the brain (hydrocephalus), the inability to perspire, unusual or involuntary body movements, urinary problems, chronic fatigue, migraines. As you can see, the symptoms are very different and do not follow a pattern.

Classification?

Doctors have been able to classify arachnoiditis, separating it into several subtypes. After specifying which is the kind of arachnoiditis a person has, one can pinpoint the predicting symptoms. The different types of arachnoiditis include Adhesive arachnoiditis, arachnoiditis ossificans, and cerebral arachnoiditis.

Different Types

Adhesive arachnoiditis is certainly the most severe and progressive kind, it usually takes place when the spinal nerves stick together because of arachnoid inflammation.

Then we have arachnoiditis ossificans, which occurs when the arachnoid transfers to the bone.

Cerebral arachnoiditis is the kind that affects the membrane surrounding the brain, and might even cause intense headaches.

Other Types

Hereditary arachnoiditis is not a frequent type of arachnoiditis which occurs because of defects in the meninges that are genetics.
Neoplastic arachnoiditis is the type of arachnoiditis that is caused due to cancer.
Optochiasmatic arachnoiditis, on the other hand, is an arachnoiditis that occurs behind the optic nerve which can result in severe or complete vision loss.

The Causes

Having an epidural often results in arachnoiditis. The cause of arachnoiditis is a factor that determines the kind a person develops. Frequent causes are:
-an injury during spinal surgery, which is the reason for 60 percent of cases
-myelography, when the spinal column is injected with dye
-exposure to chemicals that damage the meninges
-injections into the spine, such as following an epidural
-lumbar puncture
-viral and bacterial infections of the spine
-physical trauma to the spine, such as from a car accident
-cancer in or around the spine
-A very small number of arachnoiditis cases are genetic.

Treatment and Diagnosis

Pain management therapy is also good for arachnoiditis. Arachnoiditis is an uncommon thing, therefore it could require several tests and a lot of time to correctly diagnose. There is no standard test for arachnoiditis, but imaging tests are used. They are:
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
computerized axial tomography (CAT) scan