OBJECTIVEIn patients with syringomyelia and type I Chiari malformation (CM-I) who have required reoperation because of persistent, recurrent, or expanding syrinx, the senior author placed a stent from the fourth ventricle to the cervical subarachnoid space in hopes of promoting circulation of CSF out of the ventricle and away from the central canal of the spinal cord.
Arachnoid veils appear to partially obstruct CSF flow, are significantly more prevalent in cases of CM-I with syringomyelia, and therefore may play a role in the pathophysiology of CM-I-associated syringomyelia.
Imaging studies were analyzed by 2 board-certified neuroradiologists for the following features: 1) location of the deformity; 2) presence or absence of cord signal abnormality or syringomyelia; 3) visible arachnoid web; 4) presence of a dural defect; 5) nature of dorsal cord indentation (abrupt "scalpel sign" vs "C"-shaped); 6) focal ventral cord kink; 7) presence of the nuclear trail sign (endplate irregularity, sclerosis, and/or disc-space calcification that could suggest a migratory path of a herniated disc); and 8) visualization of a complete plane of CSF ventral to the deformity.
CSF flow velocity in the spinal subarachnoid space of participants with syringomyelia was similar at different locations despite differences in syrinx size and locations.