title: Prenatal demonstration of a cervical myelocystocele.
abstract: Myelocystocele is a rare spinal cord disorder and has not been described prenatally. We report a case in which prenatal ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated a posterior cervical mass which was initially thought to be a meningocele or an atypical cystic hygroma. Surgery performed at 1 day of age showed this to be a myelocystocele. Therefore, the differential diagnosis of an extracranial cystic mass in the posterior cervical region should be expanded to include myelocystoceles.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000649:Amniocentesis; D000653:Amniotic Fluid / Q000737:chemistry; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008591:Meningomyelocele / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D011247:Pregnancy; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins