Syringomyelia: a retrospective study. Part I: Clinical features.

We performed a retrospective study of 62 patients with syringomyelia. Most noteworthy among the clinical features in our patient population are the following: segmental sensory disturbances are usually less restrictive than the classical thermoanalgesia, pain is a presenting symptom in almost 50% of cases, and skeletal abnormalities of the "status dysraphicus" are very common. The different hypotheses about the pathogenesis are also discussed.