Laser syringostomy

Syringohydromyelia is a disease that is still poorly understood and therefore somewhat refractory to treatment. Problems with its surgical treatment include: 1) the variable course of untreated syringohydromyelia, with the possibility of spontaneous arrest of the process; 2) the many theories of pathogenesis that have evolved in an effort to provide a rational mode of treatment coupled with the probability that there is no single pathogenetic mechanism and therefore no one best treatment method; 3) the numerous methods of treatment with few long term follow-up studies making it difficult to determine which method is most effective.