Magnetic tomography of the central nervous system in adults with myelomeningocele

: The Norwegian training and counselling centre for patients with rare disabilities is a national project with the aim of developing new models for services designed to improve the quality of life of these patients. As at 1 July 1997, 130 adults with myelomeningocele were registered users of the Centre. This article is a retrospective review of reports from MRI evaluations of the central nervous system of 61 (40%) of the centre's users, performed in seven departments of radiology. Caput, the craniocervical region and distal parts of the medulla were the most frequently examined areas; the thoracal medulla was examined in half of the cases. There were considerable differences with respect to the structures examined. Enlargement of the lateral ventricles was as frequent in patient without shunt (68%) as in patients with shunt (53%). Dysmorphology of the corpus callosum was seen in 39%. Intracranial structural abnormalities were often described without a report on the intracranial pressure. Herniation of the cerebellar tonsils was reported in 66% of patients, tethering of the spinal cord in 90%, and syringomyelia in 13%. In most cases, MT uncovered conditions with implications for management. We suggest that standard routines should be developed for examinations of the central nervous system of patients with myelomeningocele.