Percutaneous puncture of spinal cysts in the diagnosis and therapy of syringomyelia and cystic tumors.

The experience with percutaneous puncture of intraspinal cystic lesions is reported in four cases: an extradural cyst demonstrated with air, a spinal cord tumor with lipiodol and two cases of syringomyelia with metrizamide. Percutaneous puncture of cystic lesions makes possible an accurate delineation of the lesion and a histological approach through biochemical and cytological analysis of the aspirated cystic fluid, while aspiration of the fluid of cystic tumors decompresses the spinal cord and thus plays a therapeutic role.