[The magnetic resonance tomographic method in the diagnosis of syringomyelia]

Eighteen patients with a typical clinical picture of syringomyelia were examined by a complex of methods including magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) (T1-suspended tomograms of sagittal and transverse section). MRT made it possible to recognize in 12 patients an occlusive type of the disease with a distinctly visualized expanded cyst against the background of hernia of the cerebellar tonsils and hydrocephalus. A gliomatous variant (with multiple small cysts or without such, without the Arnold-Chiari malformation) was found in 6 patients. The MRT method allows simultaneous determination of the localization and size of the cyst, ectopia of the cerebellar tonsils, and hydrocephalus, which makes it very valuable in considering the indications for and tactics of operative treatment. MRT brings the diagnosis closer to the pathologicoanatomical one and may be used successfully in studying the clinical picture and pathogenesis of various types of syringomyelia.