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Diastematomyelia and Diplomyelia

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The Pediatric Spine II

Part of the book series: Principles of Pediatric Neurosurgery ((PRINCPEDIATR))

Abstract

The word diastematomyelia was first introduced in 1837 by Ollivier1 to delineate a congenital malformation of the spinal cord and spinal column. It is characterized by a splitting of the spinal cord associated with a bony or a cartilaginous septum transfixing the neural tissue, and with other vertebral abnormalities. Such anatomic criteria are widely adopted to define diastematomyelia which represents an extreme degree of the occult spinal dysraphism according to the hypothesis postulated by Lichtenstein2 in 1940. Diastematomyelia basically differs from diplomyelia by the fact that the former is a sagittal division of a single cord into two “half-cords” by a septum, while the later is a true duplication of the cord into two “twin cords” with no bony transfixion. Since intermediate varieties do exist, these two conditions will be described together in this section, along with those involving the cauda equina.

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Authors
  1. P. Bret
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  2. J. D. Patet
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  3. C. Lapras
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. 37020, Gargagnago (Verona), Italy

    Anthony J. Raimondi M.D.

  2. Hôpital des Enfants de la Timone, Rue Saint Pierre, 13005, Marseille, France

    Maurice Choux M.D.

  3. Istituto di Neurochirurgia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Gemelli 8, 00168, Rome, Italy

    Concezio Di Rocco M.D.

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Bret, P., Patet, J.D., Lapras, C. (1989). Diastematomyelia and Diplomyelia. In: Raimondi, A.J., Choux, M., Di Rocco, C. (eds) The Pediatric Spine II. Principles of Pediatric Neurosurgery. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-8829-6_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-8829-6_4

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