[The clinical picture and surgical treatment of diastematomyelia].

The authors had under observation 21 patients with diastematomyelia--a rare congenital disease marked by the formation of a bony spicule in the vertebral canal, which splits the spinal cord and its meninges. The disease may be manifested by localized (at the level of the bony spicule) skin lesions on the back (hypertrichosis), developmental anomalies of the locomotor apparatus, and disorders of spinal cord function of various degree. The diagnosis is established on the basis of radiological examination (plain and contrast spondylographs). During surgical intervention (laminectomy) the bony spicule is removed, the dura mater surrounding it is cut, and a common sheath is formed from the dura mater for the locally split spinal cord.