[Late post-traumatic syringomyelia. Discussion apropos an atypical case].

Late post-traumatic syringomyelia is uncommon, the clinical signs appearing several years after severe trauma to the cervical spinal cord. It is due to progressive cavitation in the spinal cord. In the case reported here progress was atypical because there were no immediate neurological signs and the symptoms of syringomyelia developed only 3 weeks after injury. Several possibilities are open to discussion. Was the trauma responsible for the syringomyelia? Did it cause an aggravation of a pre-existing hydromyelia or were both lesions purely coincidental? A silicon tube draining the cavity in the cord to the subarachnoid space resulted in a real improvement in the neurological condition.