Anderson N E, Willoughby E W, Wrightson P
Clin Exp Neurol. 1986;22:71-80.
A retrospective analysis was made of the clinical course in 24 patients with syringomyelia who had not been treated surgically. 5 patients died during follow-up, and the survivors were followed for 1 to 37 (median 9) years after diagnosis. 8 of the 19 survivors followed a slowly progressive course over 4 to 46 (median 27) years but only 3 were severely disabled. 3 patients had an intermittent progression of symptoms, often with long intervening periods of stability. 8 patients had no progression in symptoms after presentation; none of these patients was severely disabled at last follow-up. It is concluded that the natural history of syringomyelia is unpredictable. Some patients have no further progression in symptoms for many years after onset. Prolonged survival is usual even among those patients with a slowly progressive deficit. The uncertain progression of the clinical course presents considerable difficulties in the timing of surgical intervention and in interpretation of the results.
对24例未经手术治疗的脊髓空洞症患者的临床病程进行了回顾性分析。5例患者在随访期间死亡，幸存者在诊断后随访了1至37年（中位数为9年）。19名幸存者中有8名在4至46年（中位数为27年）内病情呈缓慢进展，但只有3名严重残疾。3例患者症状呈间歇性进展，常伴有较长的病情稳定期。8例患者在出现症状后病情无进展；在最后一次随访时，这些患者均无严重残疾。结论是脊髓空洞症的自然病程不可预测。一些患者在发病后多年症状无进一步进展。即使是那些有缓慢进行性神经功能缺损的患者，通常也能长期存活。临床病程的不确定进展在手术干预时机和结果解读方面带来了相当大的困难。
