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How Are Brain Stem Syrinx Treated ?
Posted on
Fri, 10 Jun 2011
Medically reviewed by
Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team
Fri, 10 Jun 2011
Answered on
Last reviewed on
Question : I had a brain and spinal cord MRI w/o contrast yesterday. The wet read on the brain portion was negative. The cervical film indicated a syrinx with and underlying lesion at c6-c7. For two weeks, I have had a terrible headache, extreme diziness, vomiting, unsteady balance, I have blacked out twice and I have a tremor that is so violent that I can not even hold a cup to drink water. The headache is always at the base of my neck with a lot of pain behind my eyes. I have a loud ringing in my ears that sound like I just left a rock concert. Anyway, I saw the neurosurgeon today, he said that I had hypre reactice reflexes but that none of the symptoms had anything to do with the lesion seen on the scan. He told me that I was fine and to go home.......does that sound right?
Hi,
Thanks for posting this query.
A syrinx is a fluid-filled cavity within the spinal cord (syringomyelia) or brain stem (syringobulbia).
The syrinx present in the brainstem (lower part of the brain which connects the brain with the spinal cord) can produce dizziness.
However, the syrinx in your case is present much lower in the cervical spinal cord and thus should not likely be the culprit in producing the symtoms which you're going through.
Predisposing factors for the syrinx formation are craniocervical junction abnormalities which are usually present since birth, spinal cord trauma, and spinal cord tumors.
Symptoms commonly seen are weakness of the hands and arms and deficits in pain and temperature sensation in a capelike distribution over the back and neck.
The treatment includes correction of the underlying cause and surgical procedures to drain the syrinx. However, this has to be done only after the neurosurgeon is convinced that the symptoms which the patient is going through are due to the presence of the syrinx.
If a competent Neurosurgeon is not convinced that draining it would not help your symptoms, why would he attempt it? The other reason he also might think are the symptoms may not be related to existing syrinx shown on MRI. Hence I think your neurosurgeon is competent enough to handle such cases. Ofcourse he would have done a right referral in that case to concerned specialist.
Hope this answers your query. If you have additional questions or follow up queries then please do not hesitate in writing to us. I will be happy to answer your queries.
Wishing you good health.
Thanks for posting this query.
A syrinx is a fluid-filled cavity within the spinal cord (syringomyelia) or brain stem (syringobulbia).
The syrinx present in the brainstem (lower part of the brain which connects the brain with the spinal cord) can produce dizziness.
However, the syrinx in your case is present much lower in the cervical spinal cord and thus should not likely be the culprit in producing the symtoms which you're going through.
Predisposing factors for the syrinx formation are craniocervical junction abnormalities which are usually present since birth, spinal cord trauma, and spinal cord tumors.
Symptoms commonly seen are weakness of the hands and arms and deficits in pain and temperature sensation in a capelike distribution over the back and neck.
The treatment includes correction of the underlying cause and surgical procedures to drain the syrinx. However, this has to be done only after the neurosurgeon is convinced that the symptoms which the patient is going through are due to the presence of the syrinx.
If a competent Neurosurgeon is not convinced that draining it would not help your symptoms, why would he attempt it? The other reason he also might think are the symptoms may not be related to existing syrinx shown on MRI. Hence I think your neurosurgeon is competent enough to handle such cases. Ofcourse he would have done a right referral in that case to concerned specialist.
Hope this answers your query. If you have additional questions or follow up queries then please do not hesitate in writing to us. I will be happy to answer your queries.
Wishing you good health.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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