Fact-sheet: Syringomyelia
Updated on 09/17/2021 at 12:16 PM
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Definition
Centromedullary cavitation distinct from the ependymal canal. Causes: - malformative or congenital (Chiari type 1 or 2, Dandy-Walker malformation, tethered cord, vertebral malformations, craniocervical junction malformations, rarely Klinefelter syndrome or cerebral germinoma) - tumoral - post-traumatic - idiopathic
Clinical features
Loss of thermal and pain sensation.
Atrophic skin changes and Charcot arthropathy.
Muscle weakness.
Pyramidal syndrome
CT
Cord widening.
Hypodense (fluid) central cavity
MRI
Reference examination to visualize the centromedullary cavity and complete the full cord lesion workup.
Centromedullary cystic cavity, hypointense on T1 and hyperintense on T2.
Pulsatile CSF flow in syringomyelia.
Cord widening
Differential diagnosis
Pseudosyrinx = truncation artifact creating an abnormal linear intramedullary hyperintensity along the phase-encoding direction