Paresis

Partial loss of voluntary motor function in affected muscles, with preservation of some strength and movement, resulting from incomplete dysfunction of central or peripheral motor pathways.

Causes

• Central nervous system causes

  • Stroke

  • Traumatic brain injury

  • Spinal cord injury

  • Multiple sclerosis

  • Cerebral palsy

  • Congenital neurological disorders

  • Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

  • Brain or spinal cord tumors

  • Spinal cord inflammation or compression

• Spinal and structural causes

  • Spinal disc herniation

  • Spinal stenosis

  • Nerve root compression

  • Vertebral trauma or degenerative spinal disease

• Peripheral nervous system causes

  • Guillain–Barré syndrome

  • Bell’s palsy (facial nerve involvement)

  • Peripheral nerve injury

  • Peripheral neuropathies

  • Metabolic or toxic injury to motor pathways

• Post-seizure Todd’s paresis (temporary weakness following a seizure)

• Infections affecting motor pathways

  • Neurosyphilis

  • Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) infection-associated neurological complications