A review of spinal arachnoid cysts.

The symptoms of spinal arachnoid cysts are variable and nonspecific, so they are commonly misdiagnosed. Often the cysts are discovered incidentally on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). If they cause no symptoms, no treatment is warranted regardless of the size of the cyst. Cysts that cause symptoms from mechanical compression of the spinal cord are best evaluated with MRI and surgically excised if possible.