[MRT in syringomyelia--follow-up control after syringo-arachnoid shunt surgery with clinical correlation]

In 8 patients with syringomyelia, MR long-term follow-ups (observation period 25-46 months) were done after syringosubarachnoidal shunt operations. MR showed directly after surgery in 6 cases an extensive collapse of the syringomyelias and in 2 cases a lesser reduction of the diameter of the syrinx. During the subsequent course the size of the cavities increased again in 3 cases. The size of the syrinx visualised by MR did not correlate with the clinical status during the follow-up studies. This seems to point to an insufficient representation of the disease process by the morphological visualisation of the size of the syrinx.