Surgical treatment outcomes in children with tethered spinal cord syndrome. A prognosis on the basis of spinal 3T MRI tractography

Abstract

The study objective was to identify factors affecting surgical treatment outcomes in children with tethered cord syndrome (TCS). The study included 21 TCS patients aged 1 to 14 years who underwent tethered cord release. The preoperative and postoperative data of clinical and neurophysiological examination and high field (3T) MRI tractography of the caudal spinal cord were compared. Regression of the TCS clinical and electrophysiological signs and the lack of pathological changes in the spinal cord tracts were observed in patients with filum terminale abnormalities and caudal lipomas after surgery. In patients with secondary spinal cord tethering caused by scar formation after lumbosacral myelomeningocele repair, a motor deficit was related to the interruption level of the spinal tracts, and surgical treatment did not lead to significant regression of the TCS clinical and electrophysiological signs. We consider the absence of pathological changes in the caudal spinal cord, based on spinal MRI tractography, as a favorable prognostic factor in TCS surgical treatment.