Are congenital vertebral anomalies and spina bifida cystica aetiologically related?

Are congenital vertebral anomalies and spina bifida cystica aetiologically related?

Radiological records of 104 patients with multiple vertebral anomalies without apparent spina bifida and 112 infants with spina bifida cystica were surveyed and the incidences of hemivertebrae and of rib, vertebral body, and vertebral arch fusions were recorded. The distributions of these four anomalies along the vertebral axis were found not to be statistically different between the two age gr...

Spina bifida cystica.

Studies in Spina Bifida Cystica

Nicolai Tulp, the physician whose features are immortalized in Rembrandt's painting 'The School of Anatomy', first suggested the name 'spina bifida' (Tulpius, 1652), though the condition was known to Hippocrates, and the mediaeval Arab physicians are said (Denuce, 1906) to have specifically recognized the absence of the spinous processes in the affected area. Ruysch (1691) distinguished between...

Selection for treatment in spina bifida cystica.

This paper discusses (1) the mortality in 295 patients with myelomeningocele born 1961-9, (2) the "quality of life" of 88 surviving patients born 1961-5, and (3) their implications for selection for treatment in spina bifida cystica. Evidence is presented that high neurological levels, the presence of severe hydrocephalus, especially if present at birth, meningitis and ventriculitis, and gross ...

Bacterial Meningitis in Spina Bifida Cystica

Meningitis is a well-known complication of meningomyelocele, but the problems of its diagnosis and treatment have so far received scant attention. Some children with meningomyelocele have a small neurological deficit and no hydrocephalus. Others with hydrocephalus may benefit from modern treatment and grow up to lead normal lives. The problem of meningitis in meningomyelocele is, therefore, wor...