Atlantoaxial degenerative articular cysts

Subaxial cervical synovial cyst presenting with myelopathy. Report of three cases

Synovial cysts occur infrequently in the spinal canal and are most often associated with degenerative facet joints. Despite the prevalence of degenerative spinal disease, symptomatic synovial cysts are extremely uncommon. There have been only two previously reported cases of subaxial degenerative synovial cysts of the cervical spine in patients who presented with a clinical picture of spinal cord compression. The authors report three additional patients treated for degenerative cervical synovial cysts who presented with myelopathy. In all three patients the cyst was successfully excised and a good clinical outcome achieved.

Paraparesis caused by a bilateral cervical synovial cyst

We describe a 64-year-old man who suffered from rapidly progressive paraparesis. At operation the cervical cord of the patient was found to be displaced anteriorly due to compression caused by an epidural synovial cyst. The cyst was located bilaterally on the dorsolateral aspect of both CVII facet joints. The rapid development of paraparesis in this patient can, thus, be explained by the enlargement of the cyst on both sides of the spinal cord. After microsurgical removal of the cystic tumor, the recovery of the patient was good. Cervical epidural cysts are extremely rare, and only anecdotal cases have been reported in the literature. Among all previously described patients the present case is unique due to the bilateral location of the cyst.