[Spinal intradural arachnoid cyst. Report of five cases and a review of the literature].

Five cases of intradural arachnoid cysts were reported. Two rare cases were in cervical region, other three cases in thoracic region. Clinical and radiological findings were discussed in 67 cases including ours. All our cases with chronic clinical course except one showing spastic para- or tetraparese, sensory disturbance and gait disturbances were not much different to other reported cases in neurological findings. Plain radiography, tomography and intravenous enhanced CT were not effective. In all of the cases spinal CT was performed following metrizamide myelography. Only one cyst failed to detect during metrizamide myelography, but a metrizamide CT revealed the intradural arachnoid cyst even in this case. Vonofakos says that metrizamide myelogram failed to found the arachnoid cysts, however, we could confirm them by performing metrizamide CT about 3 hours after conventional myelography. Moreover reconstruction technique was very effective in ascertaining the shape and the extention of the tumors. Especially it is recommended to do delayed metrizamide CT with ReView technique in order to show the detailed relation between the cyst and the spinal cord. In conclusion, we emphasize the accurate neurological examination, the importance of total myelography and the improvement of fluoroscopic technique in myelography and CT scanning.