The Filum Disease

Last update: 17/06/2020, Dr. Miguel B. Royo Salvador, Medical Board number 10389. Neurosurgeon y Neurologist.

The Filum Disease is defined as the congenital form of the Neuro-Cranio-Vertebral Syndrome. It consists of an abnormal traction exerted by a seemingly normal filum terminale on the entire central nervous system, due to an asynchronous growth between the spine and the spinal cord as part of the central nervous system.

According to our research, the traction force transmitted by the ligament to the nervous system can manifest in the form of different known conditions, such as the Arnold-Chiari Syndrome Type I, idiopathic Syringomyelia, idiopathic Scoliosis, Platybasia, Basilar Impression, Odontoid retroflexion, Kinking of the brainstem. It also influences the appearance of other conditions, such as vertebral disc protrusions and herniations, vertebral dislocations, spinal stenosis, cerebrovascular disease, vertebral facet joint syndrome, Baastrup’s syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Nocturnal Enuresis.

In each case, the Filum Disease manifests with a different clinical picture, with symptoms that correspond to the injuries or malformations produced by the mechanism of abnormal traction – in the spinal cord, the brainstem, the skull and the spine – for example the following: headache, nausea, vomiting, dysphagia, vertigo, memory loss, cervical pain, upper back pain, lumbar pain, paresthesias, altered tactile or thermal sensitivity, lack of strength in the limbs, altered balance, insomnia, gait alterations. Hence, the great difficulty of comprehension and reaching a diagnosis.

The Filum Disease, as a congenital disease, is an apparently hereditary, condition that can affect more than one member in a family. The inherited element lies in the magnitude and form of expression of the mechanical neuroaxis-spine conflict, as the conflict itself occurs in all human embryos.

The Institut Chiari & Siringomielia & Escoliosis de Barcelona (ICSEB) has developed the health method Filum System^® (FS^®) based on its research. The method allows making the complex diagnosis of the Filum Disease and its multiple consequences and providing orientation regarding the adequate medical, physiotherapeutic and surgical treatment through minimally invasive surgical techniques. This allows for the recovery of the reversible nervous system injuries. In some cases, there can even be positive desired anatomical changes, as would be the disappearance of the syringomyelic cavity, the ascent of the cerebellar tonsils, the partial or full straightening of the spine or the decrease of the vertebral discopathies, and some others.