Outcomes in surgical treatment of "idiopathic-like" scoliosis associated with syringomyelia

Patients with "idiopathic-like" spinal deformities associated with syringomyelia were retrospectively reviewed. Ten patients had surgical stabilization of their curvatures with at least a 2-year follow-up, and an additional five patients were evaluated for deformity pattern with <2 years of follow-up. Paralytic curve patterns, scoliosis associated with spina bifida, congenital scoliosis, or other associated syndromes were discarded. All 10 patients with surgery who were followed for an average of 46 months lost 10° correction above, through, or below the instrumented segments. A total of 50% lost correction through the instrumented segments. Anterior fusion stabilized the instrumented portion of the spine better than posterior instrumentation alone. Eighty percent of the 15 patients had thoracic kyphosis >40°. Only one patient was lordoscoliotic. Syringomyelia deformities tend to be kyphoscoliotic in 80% of cases and behave more like paralytic curvatures postoperatively. MRI is recommended for apparent idiopathic scoliotic curvatures that are kyphoscoliotic and not lordoscoliotic.