Imaging Aspects of Toxic and Metabolic Myelopathies

Metabolic and toxic myelopathies usually occurs due to several different causes. Metabolic myelopathy usually occurs due to deficiency of a nutrient, such as vitamin B12. Toxic myelopathy occurs secondary to the exposure to an external toxic agent. Although they may have a difficult diagnosis, determination of the specific cause of myelopathy is of utmost importance, because many causes are amenable to treatment. Although they have many clinical, electrophysiologic, and neuropathologic similarities, imaging may aid in the suspicion of toxic or metabolic myelopathy. The aim of this article, is to review the imaging features of the main toxic and metabolic myelopathies.