The thoracic anterior spinal cord adhesion syndrome

Objectives: This study included a series of middle-aged male and female patients who presented with chronic anterior hemicord dysfunction progressing to paraplegia. Imaging of anterior thoracic cord displacement by either a dural adhesion or a dural defect with associated cord herniation is presented. Methods: This is a retrospective review of cases referred to a tertiary neuroscience centre over a 19-year period. Imaging series were classified by two experienced neuroradiologists against several criteria and correlated with clinical examination and/or findings at surgery. Results: 16 cases were available for full review. Nine were considered to represent adhesions (four confirmed surgically) and four to represent true herniation (three confirmed surgically). In the three remaining cases the diagnosis was radiologically uncertain. Conclusion: The authors propose "thoracic anterior spinal cord adhesion syndrome" as a novel term to describe this patient cohort and suggest appropriate clinicoradiological features for diagnosis. Several possible aetiologies are also suggested, with disc rupture and inflammation followed by disc resorption and dural pocket formation being a possible mechanism predisposing to herniation at the extreme end of a clinicopathological spectrum.