Posttraumatic Syringomyelia with Holocord Involvement: A Case Report

Abstract

Posttraumatic syringomyelia occurs in nearly half of all spinal cord injury (SCI) patients. However, there haves been very few cases of syringomyelia of the entire spinal cord, known as holocord syringomyelia. Here, we discuss a case of posttraumatic holocord syringomyelia in the light of the literature review. A 43-year-old man presented with ongoing motor weakness of the left upper extremity. He had a history of SCI with a spinal fusion operation 5 years ago. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the spine revealed an expansive high signal intensity lesion in the spinal cord from the medulla to T12. Total T8 laminectomy and syringopleural shunt placement were performed. The patient's motor weakness of the left upper extremity recovered and the extent of syrinx decreased remarkably at the 1 year follow up MRI. Physicians should consider holocord syringomyelia as a possibility in patients with ongoing neurologic deficit with a history of SCI.