title: Tethered cord syndrome in children: a review.
abstract: The treatment of a patient with symptoms of a tethered spinal cord and in whom a fatty infiltrated terminal filum is found is controversial. The authors review their experience and the literature regarding this aspect of occult spinal dysraphism. From experience, transection of a fatty terminal filum in patients with symptoms related to excessive caudal cord tension is a minor procedure that generally yields good results. The most problematic issue in the literature is what patients and symptoms are best suited to surgical treatment.
authors.affiliation: Section of Pediatric Neurosurgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham and Children's Hospital, Birmingham, Alabama 35233, USA.
authors.forename: Cuong J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Bui
authors.forename: R Shane
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Tubbs
authors.forename: W Jerry
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Oakes
mesh_terms: D009436:Neural Tube Defects / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D009493:Neurosurgery / Q000379:methods*; D010372:Pediatrics