title: Level of termination of the spinal cord during normal and abnormal fetal development.
abstract: The level of termination of the spinal cord in 115 autopsies on subjects ranging from a 20-week stillborn to an 8-month-old infant is reported. The study showed that the adult level (lower border L1) is attained at birth. In a clinical study of 10 children with diastematomyelia between the ages of 3 years and 7 years the spinal cord, which was found to terminate in the region of the lower lumbar spine, was tethered by a short thickened filum terminale.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Natal, Durban.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Govender
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Charles
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Haffejee
mesh_terms: D044383:Black People; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D012600:Scoliosis / Q000473:pathology; D013019:South Africa; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000196:embryology* / Q000473:pathology