Anatom3DCentral canal of spinal cord
Canalis centralis medullae spinalis · Centrální kanálek míchy
Nervous system
Looks like
A tiny channel running down the centre of the spinal cord, continuous with the fourth ventricle.
What it does
A leftover of the embryonic neural tube; contains cerebrospinal fluid.
Keeping it well
It can widen into a fluid cavity (syrinx), slowly taking away pain and temperature sense in the arms; MRI shows it.
Related conditions
- Amyloidosis (AL and ATTR)
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
- B12 & folate deficiency
- Bone metastases and spinal cord compression
- Botulism
- Chiari malformation and syringomyelia
- Chickenpox (varicella)
- Chronic neuropathic pain
- Chronic pain syndrome
- Fibromyalgia
- Friedreich's ataxia
- Guillain-Barré syndrome
- Lyme disease
- Multiple sclerosis
- Myasthenia gravis
- Neck pain and cervical spondylosis
- Neurogenic bladder
- Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Poliomyelitis
- Rabies
- Restless legs syndrome
- Shingles (herpes zoster)
- Spina bifida & neural tube defects
- Spinal cord injury
- Spinal muscular atrophy
- Tetanus
- Tick-borne encephalitis
- Vitamin B1, C and other deficiencies