The history of the surgical repair of spina bifida.
BACKGROUND
The history of surgical spina bifida repair has seen many successes and failures. Many early surgeons attempted treatment of open spina bifida defects before a clear understanding of the disease process or pathology had been discovered.


CONCLUSIONS
The attempts, while often fruitless, served to better our understanding of the disease and represent stepping-stones to the treatment we successfully use today. The present paper reviews the history of the surgical treatment of myelomeningoceles.
Pediatric Neurosurgery, Children's Hospital, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA.
Samuel G
SG
McClugage
Koichi
K
Watanabe
Mohammadali M
MM
Shoja
Marios
M
Loukas
R Shane
RS
Tubbs
W Jerry
WJ
Oakes
D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D009493:Neurosurgery / Q000266:history* / Q000379:methods*; D016135:Spinal Dysraphism / Q000266:history* / Q000601:surgery*