Can MR help predict enlargement of posttraumatic spinal cord cysts?

Progressive enlargement of posttraumatic syrinx cavities occurs in a small percentage of patients who have suffered a severe spinal cord injury in the past. The exact mechanisms that cause this enlargement and why such enlargement is found in some patients but not in others remains uncertain. However, there are observations that could help explain the insidious progression of this posttraumatic complication, including the presence of scarring and adhesions within the subarachnoid space, alterations in cerebrospinal fluid flow dynamics, and fluid turbulence within the syrinx cavity itself. The article by Jinkins et al in this issue of the AJNR presents us with an MR finding not previously emphasized in patients with clinically pro