Abstract
Diastematomyelia is a rare congenital malformation in which the spinal cord is divided completely or incompletely by osseous or fibrocartilagenous septum. The division is often asymmetrical and is thought to occur due to splitting of the notochord secondary to adhesions between ectoand entoderm. Most cases are often associated with the abnormalities of the vertebral bodies, including fusion defects, hemi-vertebrae, hypoplasia, kyphoscoliosis, spina-bifida and meningomyelocele. In this report, we describe a case of isolated diastematomyelia of mid-lumbar region detected at 17 weeks of gestation by ultrasound scan. The most striking feature being, detection of the wide lumbar spine from L2 to L4 with intact skin. MRI revealed the split cord with intervening bony spur. Ultrasound scan was performed after birth of the infant to evaluate the defect that confirmed diastematomyelia. Surgical repair of the defect was performed at around 6 months of age. A total of 16 cases of prenatally diagnosed diastematomyelia have been reported in the literature, all with a specific sonographic appearance.
Published Version
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