The families of 207 index patients treated for spinal dysraphism at The Hospital for Sick Children were studied to discover whether the condition was aetiologically related to the classical neural tube malformation--spina bifida cystica and anencephaly. The index patients had all had a tethered conus medullaris and one or more of a variety of anomalies of the spinal cord, vertebrae, or skin ove...

PURPOSE We evaluated the prevalence of spinal dysraphism (SD) in patients with anorectal malformation (ARM) by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHODS From January 2002 to March 2009, 120 patients with ARM who underwent anorectal reconstruction were evaluated for SD with sacral plain film, spinal ultrasonography (US), and lumbosacral MRI. We adopted Krickenbeck international classification ...

Segmental spinal dysgenesis is a rare and challenging entity especially when associated with occult dysraphism. Experience with a female patient followed during a period of 10 years spanning from 5 to 15 years of age is reported. During that period the girl underwent three spinal operations consisting in one decompression and spinal cord untethering, one posterior instrumented fusion and a spin...

©2008, World J Pediatr. All rights reserved. A female, born after normal pregnancy and labor, was referred for consultation for a 1-cm long fi brous appendage in the midline of her lumbosacral region one day after birth (Fig. 1). Although she was neurologically intact, computed tomography at 3 months revealed L4-L5 spina bifi da (Fig. 2A), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a low conus...

Retroperitoneum is a relatively uncommon site for pediatric teratomas. Rarely, such tumors can have an intraspinal extension and few cases of retroperitoneal teratomas associated with spinal dysraphism have been reported. Teratomas consist of tissues arising from all three embryonic layers. However, mature renal tissues in the form of glomeruli and tubules are sparingly found in teratomas. A 15...

OBJECTIVE Spinal dysraphism defects span wide spectrum. Wound dehiscence is a common postoperative complication, and is a challenge in the current management of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks and wound healing. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the risks of CSF-related morbidity in the surgical treatment of spinal dysraphism. METHODS Ten patients with spinal dysraphism were included i...

Cord motion at the cervical cord (C-3) level was measured with phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 39 healthy young subjects and 34 age-matched patients with spinal dysraphism. Cord velocity curves (composed of waves I, II, and III) were made in both sagittal images and transverse images and classified into 3 types. The measurement in the sagittal images were more reproducible th...