title: Magnetic resonance imaging of the spinal cord in spinal dysraphisms.
abstract: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed 49 times in 42 patients with spinal dysraphism. Scoliosis and a changing neurological picture were the primary indications. Spinal cord anomalies included hydromyelia, diastematomyelia, lipoma, thickened filum terminali, and spinal cord atrophy. All but one patient exhibited Arnold-Chiari malformation. Twenty-two of the 42 patients had computed tomography (CT) scans, myelograms, or operations that corroborated the 41 MRI findings. Three false-positive MRI findings of hydromyelia and no false-negative studies were observed. MRI is a noninvasive investigative technique that provides more information than myelography or CT in defining spinal cord anatomy in spinal dysraphism.
mesh_terms: D001139:Arnold-Chiari Malformation / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D008067:Lipoma / Q000473:pathology; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008591:Meningomyelocele / Q000473:pathology; D009436:Neural Tube Defects / Q000473:pathology*; D012600:Scoliosis / Q000473:pathology; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology*; D013120:Spinal Cord Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D013595:Syringomyelia / Q000473:pathology