Widespread use of ultrasonography has resulted in an increase in the recognition of fetal hydronephrosis. The enthusiasm that accompanied early interventions has been tempered by the experience and results obtained over the past 2 decades. The goal has remained the same: to identify patients with serious prenatal obstruction and to identify those which may benefit from intervention. Myelomening...

This case exemplifies the difficulty in differentiating cystic sacrococcygeal teratoma and terminal myelocystocele. Fetal sonography presentation and perinatal risks of sacrococcygeal teratoma and terminal myelocystocele are compared, and we emphasize the importance of obtaining fetal MR imaging to establish an accurate diagnosis.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE We present a 3-dimensional biomechanical model of the upper extremities to characterize joint dynamics during 2 patterns of Lofstrand crutch-assisted gait in children with myelomeningocele. The upper extremity model incorporates recommendations by the International Society of Biomechanics. METHODS A Vicon motion analysis system (14 cameras) captured the marker patterns. I...

The majority of children with myelomeningocele will have associated hydrocephalus. The management of hydrocephalus can be one of the most trying problems in this patient population. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) diversion will be required in these children for the remainder of their lives. Blockage of the outlets of the fourth ventricle and communication of the fourth ventricle with the central can...

Three studies compared 98 children with spina bifida myelomeningocele (SBM)-a disorder associated with high rates of math disability and spatial deficits-to 94 typically developing children on multidigit subtraction and cognitive addition tasks. Children with SBM were classified into those with reading decoding and math disability, only math disability, and no reading or math disability. Study ...

PURPOSE To describe motor development toward ambulation in children with myelomeningocele. METHODS Forty-three children were followed prospectively from 6 months to 6 years of age. RESULTS Walking function had been achieved at the 1-year follow-up in 2 of 38 children, at the 1.5-year follow-up in 7 of 39, at the 2-year follow-up in 14 of 36, at the 3-year follow-up in 21 of 28, at the 4-yea...

The results of selective treatment in 120 infants with open spina bifida, admitted between May 1971 and December 1976, were prospectively studied. Seventy-one infants had adverse criteria at birth and were not treated. They all died, more than 90% of them within 6 months of birth. Seven had meningocele. All were treated and survived without handicap. Forty-two infants with myelomeningocele were...

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...