Categories
Internal Medicine

Syringomyelia

Introduction

Disorder in which a cyst/cavity “syrinx” forms within the spinal cord, can expand and elongate over time, destroying the spinal cord resulting in loss of pain, paralysis, weakness, and stiffness in the back, shoulders, and extremities.

  • Fibers crossing in anterior white commissure (spinothalamic tract) are typically damaged first
  • M/C site: C8–T1
mcdc7_syringoyelia_cyst
Syringomyelia develops when cerebrospinal fluid, which usually flows around the outside of your brain and spinal cord, collects inside your spinal cord and forms a fluid-filled cyst (syrinx).

Aetiology

Congenital:

  • Arnold–Chiari malformation or Chiari Malformation (M/C cause)

Acquired:

  • Trauma (Post-traumatic syringomyelia, PTS)
  • Meningitis
  • Hemorrhage
  • Tumour
  • Arachnoiditis

Pathophysiology

 

Pathological Expansion of the Central Canal of the Spinal Cord because of a Syrinx | The Syrinx Gives. (2018) Syringomyelia. Retrieved October 24, 2018, from http://humanphysiology.academy/Neurosciences%202015/Chapter%202/CL.2%20Syringomyelia.html

 

 

Clinical features

“Cape-like,” bilateral symmetrical loss of pain and temperature sensation in upper extremities

 

Signs and Symptoms of Syringomyelia | The Syrinx Gives. (2018) Syringomyelia. Retrieved October 24, 2018, from http://humanphysiology.academy/Neurosciences%202015/Chapter%202/CL.2%20Syringomyelia.html

 

Diagnosis

Investigations

Electromyography (EMG)

Imaging

MRI or CT-scan or Myelogram

syringomyelia
An idiopathic syrinx. See the thin light grey shape inside the spinal cord, placed at centre in the bottom half of the above image. | Cyborg Ninja Commons., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1985784

Summary



 

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: