title: The nature of congenital posterior cervical or cervicothoracic midline cutaneous mass lesions. Report of eight cases.
abstract: Between 4% and 8% of cases of spina bifida cystica occur in a cervical or cervicothoracic location. Despite a large body of literature concerning spinal dysraphism, there has been little written specifically about patients afflicted with this disorder in a cervical location. Eight children who presented at birth with posterior cervical or cervicothoracic lumps, all of which represented a dysraphic state, are discussed. Two types of abnormalities were noted. Three patients had hydromyelia with an associated myelocystocele herniating posteriorly into a meningocele sac. In these three patients there was an associated Chiari II malformation and hydrocephalus. The other five children had a meningocele in which a band of tissue extended from the posterior aspect of the spinal cord through a defect in the bone and fascia to the posterior part of the meningocele sac itself. No patient had a lesion that could be described as a meningomyelocele. The investigation and surgical management of these conditions are discussed and the need for intradural exploration to untether the spinal cord in the cervical region is stressed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, British Columbia Children's Hospital, Canada.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Steinbok
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Cochrane
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008588:Meningocele / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000196:embryology / Q000601:surgery; D008591:Meningomyelocele / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000196:embryology / Q000601:surgery; D011379:Prognosis; D011859:Radiography