Turkish Neurosurgery 2007 , Vol 17 , Num 4
Familial Syringomyelia in Two Siblings
Kenan KOÇ1, İhsan ANIK2, Yonca ANIK3, Savaş CEYLAN4
1,2,4Kocaeli University, Neurosurgery Department, Kocaeli, Turkey
3Kocaeli University, Radiology Department, Kocaeli, Turkey
We report on syringomyelia of the thoracic spinal cord in two sisters without a Chiari or any other malformation. In both cases syringomyelia was determined by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Spinal MRI showed a syringomyelia between T6-T8 levels in the first sibling and between T7- T9 in the second sibling. The cranio-cervical junction was normal and tonsiller ectopia was not present. Neurological examination of both sisters was normal. They did not undergo surgery as they had mild symptoms without neurological deficit and the size of the syrinx was small. Familial syringomyelia is a very rare finding and extremely rare at only the thoracic level. Genetic and environmental factors seem to be involved in familial syringomyelia. Keywords : Familial Syringomyelia, Magnetic resonance imaging, Thoracic spinal cord
Corresponding author : İhsan Anık, drianik@gmail.com