Acute presentations of syringomyelia. Report of three cases

Three unusual cases are reported in which communicating syringomyelia presented acutely. The first patient presented with paraplegia, the second with acute respiratory distress secondary to bilateral vocal cord paralysis, and the third with symptoms of acute brain-stem ischemia. Each patient had a c...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of neurosurgery Vol. 72; no. 1; p. 133
Main Authors Zager, E L, Ojemann, R G, Poletti, C E
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.01.1990
Subjects
Acute Disease
Adult
Child
Female
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Middle Aged
Syringomyelia - diagnosis
Syringomyelia - surgery
Online AccessGet more information

Cover

More Information
Summary:Three unusual cases are reported in which communicating syringomyelia presented acutely. The first patient presented with paraplegia, the second with acute respiratory distress secondary to bilateral vocal cord paralysis, and the third with symptoms of acute brain-stem ischemia. Each patient had a communicating spinal cord syrinx associated with a posterior fossa and foramen magnum region anomaly (a huge posterior fossa arachnoid cyst in one and Chiari malformations in two). The mechanisms of craniospinal pressure dissociation and hindbrain herniation are discussed, along with other reported emergency presentations of syringomyelia.
ISSN:0022-3085
DOI:10.3171/jns.1990.72.1.0133