Diastematomyelia

Abstract

This article has three purposes: to present the pathological changes in a case of diastematomyelia, to review its embryological implications, and to bring to the attention of physicians a surgically remediable condition which is undoubtedly frequently overlooked. Diastematomyelia is a term designating a congenital cleft, or splitting of the spinal cord, each portion of which is usually invested in a separate arachnoid sheath under a common dura. The derivation from the Greek,diastema, cleft, andmelos, medulla, has been attributed to Ollivier (1837).¹The term thus refers only to the split in the spinal cord and not, as frequently misapplied, to the intervening bony spur which frequently accompanies this condition. Diastematomyelia is to be distinguished from diplomyelia, which, strictly speaking, designates a duplication of part or all of the spinal cord (i.e., four roots and four horns at the involved segments). Owing to misunderstanding of the actual pathological changes