ABSTRACT
In 1967 a 14-year-old boy underwent anterior cervical stabilization and subtotal removal of an aneurysmal bone cyst of the cervical spine. A complete reversal of his neurological deficit followed and has been maintained during a 12-year-period without radiation therapy. An early demonstration of the angiographic appearance of this rare lesion is presented.
Subject(s)
Bone Cysts/surgery , Cervical Vertebrae , Adolescent , Bone Cysts/diagnostic imaging , Bone Cysts/pathology , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Laminectomy , Male , Radiography , Spinal Diseases/diagnostic imaging , Spinal Diseases/pathology , Spinal Diseases/surgeryABSTRACT
The clinical course of 12 patients who underwent terminal ventriculostomy for syringomyelia is presented. Opening the central canal at the tip of the conus medullaris is a relatively benign procedure that improves the symptoms of syringomyelia and syringobulbia. This canal normally terminates at the tip of the conus, but in each of the 12 surgical specimens it continued into the filum terminale for distances up to 8 cm. In most cases the tip of the conus was located more caudally than normal, indicating some degree of tethering in fetal life. This belief is supported by the fact that the newborn, whose conus is tethered to a lipoma at the sacral level, may develop syringomyelia in adult life.