Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery
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The aims of this study were to describe the embryological changes that drive the formation of a split spinal cord malformation, analyse the forms of presentation, evaluate the diagnostic procedures and discuss the indications for the different forms of therapy for each case. ⋯ While CT scan is particularly useful for the evaluation of vertebral bodies and posterior arch abnormalities and spur characteristics in SSCM, MRI gives complementary information on the anatomy of spinal cord, dural sac, conus and filum terminale and permits the exclusion of associated lesions such as hydro-syringomyelia, dermal sinus or dermoid and epidermoid cysts. Surgery should be considered indicated in all cases of SSCM, even the asymptomatic ones, except in very badly handicapped meningomyelocele patients with nonprogressive disability and type II SSCM.