• Jianxiong Shen, Haining Tan, Chong Chen, Jianguo Zhang, Youxi Lin, Tianhua Rong, Yang Jiao, Jinqian Liang, and Zheng Li.
• Department of Orthopedics, Peking Union Medical College Hospital and Graduate School of Peking Union Medical College, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Beijing, China.
• Spine. 2019 Dec 1; 44 (23): 1653-1660.

Study DesignRetrospective study.ObjectiveTo compare syrinx characteristics, scoliotic parameters, and neurological deficits between Chiari I malformation (CIM) and idiopathic syringomyelia (IS) in the scoliotic population.Summary Of Background DataCIM and IS are common in neuromuscular scoliosis patients; however, differences in syrinx characteristics, scoliotic parameters, and neurological deficits between CIM and IS are unclear.MethodsThirty-six patients with scoliosis secondary to CIM were enrolled retrospectively and matched with 36 IS patients for sex, age, scoliosis classification, and Cobb angle. Information on radiographic features of scoliosis and syrinx and neurological deficits was systematically collected.ResultsSex, age, and coronal, and sagittal scoliosis parameters did not differ between the CIM and IS groups. The CIM group had a longer syrinx (12.9 ± 4.0 vertebral levels vs. 8.7 ± 5.5 vertebral levels, P < 0.001), a higher cranial extent (3.6 ± 2.2 vs. 5.2 ± 3.5, P = 0.027), and a lower caudal extent (15.6 ± 2.9 vs. 13.0 ± 4.6, P = 0.006) than the IS group, despite no differences in syrinx/cord (S/C) ratio or syrinx classification. No differences in neurological deficits were identified between the CIM and IS patients.ConclusionWith demographic and scoliotic coronal parameters matched, the CIM patients had a longer syrinx, located at a higher cranial and lower caudal level, compared with the IS group. No significant differences in syrinx S/C ratio, sagittal features of scoliosis, or neurological deficits were detected between the two groups.Level Of Evidence3.

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