Sonographic evaluation of spinal cord birth trauma with pathologic correlation

Department of Radiology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Birth trauma to the spinal cord is a serious potential complication of delivery. Determining the presence, severity, and extent of injury poses a difficult problem because of the often confusing clinical setting. Myelography has been recommended for assessing spinal cord birth trauma but is invasive and may not be helpful. The role of sonography in evaluating spinal cord birth trauma has not been previously described. We assessed the value of sonography in four patients, three of whom also had CT metrizamide myelography. Autopsy correlation was available in three patients. Sonography was able to easily demonstrate the cord configuration, allowing for multiple assessments over time. Internal cord echogenicity was helpful in a case of hematomyelia and in demonstrating the changes of myelomalacia. Sonography is useful in evaluating neonates with severe spinal cord injury; it obviates the need for myelography and also may allow less severely injured patients to be assessed more frequently.
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