Keykhosravi E, Faravani E, Dehghani Dashtabi S, Emadzadeh M, Alamdaran SA, Aminzadeh B. Comparison of Ultrasonographic Findings between Patients with Tethered Cord Syndrome and Healthy Children.
IRANIAN JOURNAL OF MEDICAL SCIENCES 2023;
48:130-136. [PMID:
36895465 PMCID:
PMC9989241 DOI:
10.30476/ijms.2022.93848.2517]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2021] [Revised: 01/26/2022] [Accepted: 03/23/2022] [Indexed: 03/11/2023]
Abstract
Background
Tethered cord syndrome (TCS) is a type of occult spinal dysraphism, which necessitates early detection as an essential component of patient management in reducing complications. This study aimed to compare the findings of spinal cord ultrasonography between TCS patients and healthy individuals.
Methods
The current study is a case-control study of patients who were admitted to the Akbar and Ghaem Hospitals (Mashhad, Iran) in 2019. The study population comprised 30 children with TCS aged under two years old, and the control group included 34 healthy peers of the same age. The maximum distance of the spinal cord from the posterior canal wall was measured in millimeters using ultrasonography. Demographic and sonographic findings of each participant were recorded in checklists, which were then entered into SPSS software. P values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.
Results
The study included 30 children with TCS and 34 healthy individuals with a mean age of 7.67±6.39 months. TCS patients had a significantly shorter maximum distance of the spinal cord from the posterior wall of the spinal canal than the control group (1.75±0.62 mm vs. 2.79±0.76, P<0.001). After performing corrective surgery, the TCS patients indicated significant improvement in this interval (1.57±0.54 mm to 2.95±0.49 mm, respectively, P=0.001).
Conclusion
In comparison to children without TCS, the spinal cord was substantially closer to the posterior canal wall in TCS patients. However, these outcomes were improved significantly in patients after surgery.
Collapse