Clinical Analysis with 51 Cases of Meningocele and Meningomyelocele, with Special Reference to Hydrocephalus

Abstract

Fifty-one cases with meningocele (MC), meningomyelocele (MMC), and encephalocele (EC) were analysed in association with the occurrence of hydrocephalus. The incidence of hydrocephalus for all cases was 56.9% of 29 cases, that for 16 MC cases was 25.0% of 4 cases, and that for 30 MMC cases was 73.3% of 22 cases. All ten cases, which were complicated with meningitis, and 16 (84.2%) of 19 cases with ruptured MC, MMC and EC masses, had hydrocephalus. Also, there was a strong correlation between the occurrence of hydrocephalus and the size of the mass at birth. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination, which was performed in the cases with hydrocephalus, was useful and frequently revealed various anomalies of the intracranial structure such as deformities of the anterior or posterior horns of lateral ventricles and/or forth ventricle, stenosis of the aqueduct, hypoplasia and low attachment of the tentorium, descending hernia of the cerebellum and brain-stem, and cervicomedullary kinking.