Sonographic findings in a neonate with diastematomyelia and a tethered spinal cord.

ongenital midline cutaneous paraspinal lesions, mostly located in the lumbosacral areas, are widely recognized as markers of occult spinal dysraphism. Diastematomyelia, or a split spinal cord, is an unusual congenital spinal abnormality in which the spinal cord is divided into 2 columns by a fibrous, cartilaginous, or bony septum. In most cases, lesions are located on the lower thoracic and upper lumbar parts of the spine. It often manifests in the neonatal period with midline paraspinal lesions. Sonography is a reliable tool for the study of the most severe spinal dysraphism. Diastematomyelia has been reported in neonates; however, to the best of our knowledge, the sonographic findings of diastematomyelia have rarely been described. We report a case of diastematomyelia and a tethered spinal cord in a neonate with lower back hemangioma at birth that was diagnosed via spinal sonography and was confirmed by spinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).