From January 1990 to April 1997 we retrospectively evaluated 90 patients with MR examinations at our Spine Unit. The following post-traumatic spinal cord lesions were diagnosed: atrophy (47 pts), myelomalacia (40 pts), cysts (14), syrinx (14) and medullary transection with adhesion(4 pts). MR was very useful to identify atrophy more frequently found at the cervical-thoracic level (C6-D3). Myelomalcia was found in a patient with severe vertebral body trauma with chronic compression of the spinal cord. Intramedullary cysts were found in patients with hematomyelia in acute phase and were stable lesions. Post-traumatic syringomyelia is the most important sequela due to the fact that is often correlated with symptoms. MR not only detected the lesion but also identified intramedullary cavities without new neurological symptoms and guided surgery and follow-up. MR is the examination of choice not only for diagnosis of chronic spinal cord lesions but also to evaluate the possibility of surgical treatment.
Surgical Treatment of Vascular Intramedullary Spinal Cord Lesions
