Computed tomography in the diagnosis of syringomyelia

We describe the usefulness of computed tomography (CT) in the diagnosis of syringomyelia in 12 patients for whom the diagnosis had remained unconfirmed with other diagnostic methods. In 7 of these patients, CT myelography revealed an intramedullary cavitation filled with contrast medium. In 3 patients, the cavitation was not filled, and positive contrast medium was not used in another 2. In these 5 cases, however, CT visualized low-density areas within the cord. CT would seem to be the most preferable method for confirming the clinical diagnosis of syringomyelia and is particularly useful in atypical cases.