Affiliations: Department of Pediatric Neurology, Sheffield
Children's Hospital, Sheffield, UK | Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Sheffield
Children's Hospital, Sheffield, UK
Note: [] Correspondence: Dr. Manish Prasad, Department of Pediatric
Neurology, Sheffield Children's Hospital, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TH, UK.
Tel.: +44 114 4221 7607; Fax: +44 114 2678 296; E-mail: m.prasad@nhs.net
Abstract: There are several well-known causes for pediatric torticollis.
However detailed review of the literature revealed only rarely association of
torticollis with syringomyelia. We present a 4-year-old girl known to have
torticollis since 18 months of age who presented acutely with right upper limb
mono-paresis. Investigations revealed a Chiari type I malformation with
extensive syringomyelia involving the whole of spinal cord extending from C1 to
the conus. She responded very well to urgent posterior fossa decompression.
Syringomyelia involving the entire spinal cord is very rare in children and
presentation with monoplegia, to the best of our knowledge, has not been
described before. We recommend that torticollis should always be taken
seriously and a thorough clinical assessment supplemented by neuroimaging
should be considered.
Keywords: Syringomyelia, torticollis, Chiari I malformation, monoplegia
