Split Cord Malformation (Occult Spina Bifida) : An Indian Scenario

摘要

Split cord malformations (SCM) is a new term used for diastematomyelia and diplomyelia. It is a form of occult spinal dysraphism(1). Occult spinal dysraphism is defined as skin covered lesion that have no exposed neural tissue and no visible cystic mass (2), barring few cutaneous anomalies, which are indicators of underlying spinal pathology (3). SCM constitutes about one third cases of spinal dysraphism, where spinal cord is divided over a portion of it’s length into two equal or unequal halves(3). SCM are of two types, type 1 consists of two hemicords, each contained within its own dural sheathed tube and separated by a median bony spur and type 2 consists of two hemicord housed in a single dural tube separated by a fibrous median septum (4) (Fig. 1 & 2).