Background: Split Spinal cord Malformation (SSCM) is a form of spinal dysraphism in which any or all of the spinal cord, cauda equina, and filum terminale are divided by a bony or fibrous spur. There are two described types of SSCM, namely Types I and II. In Type I SSCM, there are separate hemi-cords contained in two dural sacs, separated by a bony spur; in Type II SSCM, there is a single dural...

The relationship between functional abdominal pain (FAP) and occult constipation (OC) in children who did not meet the Rome III criteria for constipation has rarely been reported. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of OC in patients with FAP and to compare the effectiveness of prokinetic drugs and laxatives for FAP and OC. Pediatric outpatients (n = 212; aged 4-15 years) who satisfied ...

Objective. We evaluated the use of a one-week ambulatory pessary trial in predicting patients' postoperative outcomes for occult stress incontinence. Methods. Patients with anterior vaginal wall prolapse were offered a pessary trial to predict response to reconstruction. We performed a retrospective review of 4 years of cases. All patients underwent a detailed evaluation including videourodynam...

BACKGROUND An estimated 10% of all children are subject to recurrent attacks of abdominal pain of unknown origin. When no organic cause is found, the working diagnosis is usually functional abdominal pain. OBJECTIVES To investigate the possible causative role of occult constipation. METHODS We defined occult constipation as the absence of complaints of constipation on initial medical histor...

We perform Brownian dynamics simulations on model 3-D systems of mono-tethered nanospheres (TNS) to study the equilibrium morphologies formed by their self-assembly in a selective solvent. We predict that in contrast to flexible amphiphiles the nanospheres are locally ordered and there is an increase in the local order with an increase in concentration or relative nanoparticle diameter. We pres...

OBJECT Anorectal malformations are known to be associated with neurological deficits, which may contribute to the disability suffered by patients with these malformations. This study was undertaken to determine the incidence and pattern of sacral abnormalities in children with anorectal malformations, the incidence and nature of the neurological deficits, and the incidence and nature of operabl...

A 48-year-old woman presented to our imaging department with lumbar sciatica. The patient had a medical history of low back pain and spina bifida. A transverse section lumbar spine CT-scan, obtained with soft-tissue window setting (Fig. A, arrow) showed, a fat-density (45-HU), oblong, posterior intradural supracentimetric lesion, at level of L5-S1. The use of bone window setting revealed a spin...

Meningocele is a complex congenital form of spinal dysraphism secondary to neural tube defects that occur during the third to fourth week of gestation. This form of spina bifida cystica (open type) requires early diagnosis and surgical intervention. Untreated, they develop the dreaded combination of spontaneous/traumatic rupture and encephalitis and the eventually fatal sepsis, secondary to flo...

We studied the electrophysiological changes occurring in six patients with tethered cord syndrome. Evidence of spinal malformations was provided by magnetic resonance imaging. The functional assessment of the spinal cord was performed by analysing both spinal and cortical somatosensory evoked potentials. The evoked electrospinogram was recorded from the thoracic and lumbosacral spinous processe...

A case of anterior sacral meningocele associated with tethered cord syndrome is reported. A 5-year-old boy was admitted for urinary and fecal incontinence which had persisted since his birth. Abdominal MRI and sacral CT showed a presacral cystic mass communicating with the spinal dural sac through a neck traversing a sacral bony defect and tethered spinal conus. Neurological examination showed ...