Radiographic and clinical outcome of syringomyelia in patients treated for tethered cord syndrome without other significant imaging abnormalities

Object The surgical management of patients with symptoms of tethered cord syndrome (TCS) who lack significant radiographic abnormalities is controversial. One potential MRI marker for TCS is a spinal cord syrinx or syringomyelia. Alternatively, a syrinx may be a benign and incidental finding. In this report the authors evaluated a highly selected cohort of patients with symptoms of TCS with minimal radiographic abnormalities other than syringomyelia. They analyzed clinical and radiographic outcomes after tethered cord release (TCR). Methods A retrospective review of data from 16 children who met the study inclusion criteria was performed. All patients had been surgically treated at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, Indiana, between 2006 and 2011. All children had clinical symptoms of TCS as well as available pre- and postoperative MRI data. Results The most common presentation (12 [75%] of 16 patients) was urinary dysfunction, defined as symptoms of urgency or incontinence with abnormal urodyna...