Ultrasound-guided neuroaxial anesthesia: accurate diagnosis of spina bifida occulta by ultrasonography.

摘要

To the editor: Spinal dysraphism, simply referred to as spina bifida, a congenital malformation that results from an incomplete closure of the embryonic neural tube, is characterized by an incompletely formed spinal cord and by incompletely fused vertebrae. It is one of the most common birth defects worldwide, with an incidence of 0.2-3 cases per 1000 births [1]. The disease is divided into four categories according to severity, spina bifida occulta, spina bifida cystica, meningo-cele, and lipomeningocele.