Arachnoid cyst and cord compression in association with tangential shrapnel injuries of the spine

Seven cases of tangential shrapnel injury of the spine with sensory and motor paralysis were discovered to have subdural arachnoid cysts with compression of the cord also. In one of them an extradural cyst coexisted. Detection of the cysts was only possible after myelographic screening of all cases of tangential trauma. The clinical, laboratory, radiological, surgical and histopathological data were studied. Follow-up for eight weeks was recorded including one case of recurrence of a cyst. A theory of the mechanism of injury and of the formation of the cysts is given. The number of cyst cases constituted about 33% of all tangential injuries, and 8.8% of all shrapnel injuries received in Maadi Hospital during the October Middle East Conflict, 1973. Removal of the cysts improved the prospects of neurological recovery.