SYRINGOMYELIA

Abstract

Objective: The cavities imbued with glia cells which may develop around the central canal of spinal cord are called syringomyelia. The pathophysiology of syringomyelia is yet to be defined in full. The aim of our study is to investigate the patients with syringomyelia. Material and Method: The patients who applied to our clinics between 2007-2017 and were diagnosed with syringomyelia in consequence of neurological and radiological examinations were included in the assessment from the automation system of our hospital. Results: This study was carried out on 208 cases, in total, of which 35.1 % (n=73) were male while 54.9 % (n=135) were female. The ages of the cases included in this study varied between 9 and 81, and the average of ages was 42.52 ± 16.30 years. Chiari malformation were the most frequent etiology among these (28.4 %). The rate of cervical engagement of Chiari Malformation and Disc Pathology were significantly higher compared to the rates of the lumbar engagement of spinal congenital anomaly and the thoracic engagement of trauma. Conclusion: In consequence of this study, only 43.5 % of the patients with syringomyelia demonstrated etiological causes. On the other hand, a small part of the cases arose due to spinal mass, trauma and discopathy.