[Diagnosis of venous circulation disorders in the cervical portion of the spine and spinal cord using selective phlebography].

Selective phlebography of the major branches of the vena cava superior, supplemented, if necessary, by selective catheterization of the spinal vein, was employed to study the disorders in the cervical section of the spine and cord. Twenty-five patients with myelopathies of obscure origin were examined. The main symptoms were stenoses and atresias of the orifices of the internal jugular veins and compression and stenoses of the brachiocephalic trunks. The possibility of a reverse venous blood stream from the nonspinal veins to the epidural ones and backward was confirmed. Therefore, a disorder of the venous outflow from the spinal channel, on the one hand, and intensification of the venous blood inflow, on the other, may develop under certain conditions, resulting in intrachannel hypertension. Eight patients with pathologic changes in the veins (decompressions and angiolysis) were operated on.