The ependyma-lined lumen (cavity) of the neural tube, the cerebral part of which remains patent to form the ventricles of the brain, while the spinal part in the adult often is reduced to a solid strand of modified ependyma.
Synonym: canalis centralis medullae spinalis, central canal of spinal cord, tubus medullaris.
Synonym: syringocele.
(05 Mar 2000)