Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2021L00608:reg:6
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2021L00608
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 6
Character Range: 1481–3804

6               Kind of injury, disease or death to which this Statement of Principles relates
(1)          This Statement of Principles is about transverse myelitis and death from transverse myelitis.
Meaning of transverse myelitis
(2)          For the purposes of this Statement of Principles, transverse myelitis:
             (a)          means an acute or subacute immune-mediated, inflammatory disorder of the spinal cord producing symptoms and signs of impaired motor, sensory or autonomic functioning; and
             (b)          excludes myelitis or myelopathy of the spinal cord due to:
(i)            acute disseminated encephalomyelitis;
(ii)         atopic myelitis;
(iii)       intrathecal chemotherapy;
(iv)        multiple sclerosis;
(v)          neuromyelitis optica syndrome;
(vi)        radiation;
(vii)     spinal cord compression;
(viii)   trauma;
(ix)        tumour invasion; and
(x)          vascular, metabolic or degenerative pathologies.
            Note 1: Transverse myelitis typically presents with symptoms or signs developing over hours to days. Impaired autonomic functioning may present as bowel or bladder dysfunction. There is usually bilateral sensory alteration with a defined upper sensory level.
            Note 2: The diagnosis of transverse myelitis can be confirmed by finding evidence of spinal cord inflammation on neuroimaging or by analysis of cerebrospinal fluid.
(3)          While transverse myelitis attracts ICD‑10‑AM code G37.3, in applying this Statement of Principles the meaning of transverse myelitis is that given in subsection (2).
(4)          For subsection (3), a reference to an ICD-10-AM code is a reference to the code assigned to a particular kind of injury or disease in The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision, Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM), Tenth Edition, effective date of 1 July 2017, copyrighted by the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority, ISBN 978-1-76007-296-4.
Death from transverse myelitis
(5)          For the purposes of this Statement of Principles, transverse myelitis, in relation to a person, includes death from a terminal event or condition that was contributed to by the person's transverse myelitis.
Note: terminal event is defined in the Schedule 1 - Dictionary.