Abstract
Synovial cysts, typically observed in the lumbar spine eventually associated with degenerative changes of the facet joints, only rarely present in the cervical spine. Up to now, only 28 symptomatic cases are described in literature. Typically, the treatment of these cases is a decompressive laminectomy followed by complete surgical removal of the lesion. The authors present the case of an 84-year-old man with a symptomatic synovial cyst involving the space between C7 and T1.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aksoy FG, Gomori GM (2000) Symptomatic cervical synovial cyst associated with an Os Odontoideum diagnosed by magnetic resonance imaging. Spine 25:1300–1302
Cartwright MJ, Nehls DG, Carrion CA, Spetzler RF (1985) Synovial cyst of a cervical facet joint: case report. Neurosurgery 16:850–852
Colen CB, Rengachary S (2006) Spontaneous resolution of a cervical spine causing acute spinal cord compression. J Neurosurg Spine 4(2):186
Cudlip S, Johnston F, Marsh H (1999) Subaxial cervical synovial cyst presenting with mielopathy: report of three cases. J Neurosurg 90(suppl):141–144
Davis R, Iliya A, Roque C, Pampati M (1990) The advantage of magnetic resonance imaging in diagnosis of a lumbar synovial cyst. Spine 15:244–246
Epstein NE, Hollingsworth R (1993) Synovial cyst of the cervical spine. J Spinal Disord 6:182–185
Freidberg SR, Fellows T, Thomas CB, Mancall AC (1994) Experience with symptomatic spinal epidural cysts. Neurosurgery 34:989–993
Kao CC, Winkler SS, Turner JH (1974) Synovial cyst of spinal facet. J Neurosurg 41:372–376
Kotilainen E, Marttila R (1997) Paraparesis caused by a bilateral cervical synovial cyst. Acta Neurol Scand 96:59–61
Hatem O, Bedou G, Nègre C, Bertrand JL, Camo J (2001) Intraspinal cervical degenerative cyst. Report of three cases. J Neurosurg 95(1 suppl):139–142
Jabre A, Shababian S, Keller J (1987) Synovial cyst of the cervical spine. Neurosurgery 20:316–318
Jackson DE, Atlas SW, Mani JR, Norman D (1970) Intraspinal synovial cysts: MR imaging. Radiology 170(2):527–530
Jost SC, Hsien PT, Wright NM (2003) Symptomatic intraosseous synovial cyst in the cervical spine: a case report. Spine 28(17):E344–E346
Lunardi P, Acqui M, Ricci G, Agrillo A, Ferrante L (1999) Cervical synovial cysts: case report and review of the literature. Eur Spine J 8(3):232–237
Nijehnson E, Russell EJ (1990) Calcified synovial cyst of the cervical spine: CT and MR evaluation. J Comput Assit Tomogr 14(3):473–476
Onofrio BM, Mih AD (1988) Synovial cysts of the spine. Neurosurgery 22(4):642–647
Patel SC, Sanders WP (1988) Synovial cyst of the cervical spine: case report and review of the literature. Am J Neuradiol 9(3):602–603
Quaghebeur G, Jeffree M (1992) Synovial cyst of the high cervical spine causing myelopathy. Am J Neuradiol 13(3):981–982
Shima Y, Rothman SL, Yasura K, Takahashi S (2002) Degenerative intraspinal cyst of the cervical spine. Spine 27:E19–E22
Silbergleit R, Gebarski S, Brunberg J, McGillicudy J, Blaivas M (1990) Lumbar synovial cysts: correlation of myelographic, CT, MR and pathologic findings. Am J Neuradiol 11:777–779
Weymann CA, Capone P, Kinkel PR, Kinkel WR (1993) Synovial Cyst of the upper cervical spine: MRI with gadolinium. Neurology 43(10):2151–2152
Conflict of interest statement
None of the authors has any potential conflict of interest.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Costa, F., Menghetti, C., Cardia, A. et al. Cervical synovial cyst: case report and review of literature. Eur Spine J 19 (Suppl 2), 100–102 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-009-1094-6
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-009-1094-6