THE PROFILE AND SURGICAL TREATMENT OF SYRINGOMYELIA IN NIGERIAN PATIENTS.

BACKGROUND

Syringomyelia is an often progressive disorder of the spinal cord. There is a dearth of reports in the African population.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

This study describes the profile and the outcome of treatment in our population of patients.

DESIGN OF THE STUDY

A retrospective review of patients surgically treated for syringomyelia over a ten year period.

SETTING

Department of Neurological Surgery, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Eight patients were surgically treated for Syringomyelia over the period 2004-2014. We extracted data on their gender, age, aetiology, syrinx location, diagnosis, operative procedure and outcome. Simple statistical analysis was done.

RESULTS

There were five males and three females. The mean age was 31.6(SD15.3) years (median: 32.5 years). The causes of the syrinx were: Chiari malformation (3), intramedullary spinal tumour (2), foramen magnum tumour (1), post-traumatic (1), and iatrogenic chemical arachnoiditis (1). The syrinx location was: cervical region (4), cervicothoracic region (2) and multi-level (2). The operative procedures were posterior fossa decompression (2), sub-occipital craniectomy with laminectomy and tumour excision (2), laminectomy and syringomyelotomy (2), laminectomy and tumour excision (1), and ventriculoperitoneal shunting (1). The duration of follow up was 2 weeks to 35 months. Outcome was satisfactory in six patients. A child who had initial ventriculoperitoneal shunting died at home before definitive surgery, and an adult male died of respiratory insufficiency post operatively.

CONCLUSION

Syringomyelia is rare in our population. It affects young patients, typically in the cervico-thoracic region. The aetiologies are similar to those from previous reports. The outcome of surgical treatment in our small group of patients is satisfactory.