Acute transverse myelitis at the conus medullaris level after rabies vaccination in a patient with Behçet's disease.

CASE REPORT: A 25-year-old man with Behçet's disease was admitted because of weakness of the lower limbs and difficulty in urination. He had received a rabies vaccination 2 months previous because he had been bitten by a dog.

FINDINGS: Clinical and laboratory findings supported acute transverse myelitis. A hyperintense lesion and expansion at the level of conus medullaris was detected on spinal magnetic resonance imaging.

CONCLUSION

Although neurologic involvement is one of the main causes of mortality and morbidity in Behçet's disease, the factors that aggravate the involvement of the nervous system are still unclear. Vaccination may have been the factor that had activated autoimmune mechanisms in this case. To our knowledge, involvement of the conus medullaris in Behçet's disease after rabies vaccination has not been reported.