Common and Deadly: Recognizing and Treating Inflammatory Disease of the Brain, Spinal Cord, and Meninges

When there are inflammatory cells within the brain, spinal cord or meninges then the terms encephalitis, myelitis, and meningitis are used, respectively. When inflammation is in more than one area the terms are combined like with meningoencephalomyelitis. The inflammation in these cases if most often from a non-infectious, unknown etiology and therefore called meningoencephalomyelitis of unknown etiology (MUE). The signs of the disease are specific to the location of the inflammation and most cases respond well to aggressive immune suppression. This talk discusses the terminology, definition / histopathology, common presentations, treatment and prognosis for different manifestations of non-infectious inflammatory disease within the nervous system