Communicating and non-communicating syringomyelia: diagnosis and treatment

An abstract of a study by Dimogerontas et al presenting four adult patients who suffered from syringomyelia and who were diagnosed and treated in the neurosurgical department during the last ten years is presented. Results show that all cases initially showed significant improvement of their clinical state. They conclude that MRI is the most highly recommended diagnostic procedure because it can show the dimensions of syrinxes as well as other concomitant findings, like Chiari malformations, the type of syringomyelia and potential intra-syrinx septae, which can determine the appropriate surgical approach.