Spina Bifida Occulta

My son was diagnosed with spina bifida occulta when he was two years old.  He is now 12 and continues to have problems with wetting the bed.  We have had MRIs and the damage is to L5 and all visible sacral.  The last MRI showed no tethering of the cord.  At that time the neurologist indicated that my son had no problems and that I no longer had to worry about tethering of the cord due to the fact that the spinal cord was now located above the damaged area.  Is this accurate or does the possibility of tethering exist throughout his lifetime?  The bedwetting has increased and is a nightly occurence.  We tried medication for a short period of time but it did not have any impact.  What would be your suggestion to resolve this ongoing problem.

Thanks,

Alma

[selmaS]

Hi Alma, I would suggest u see a spine specialits...not a NL.....has ur son had an MRI of his brain?
I was just Dx'd with TC and scoliosis...I am 49. I also have chiari malformation, DDD and  cervical spinal stinosis.
I am not sure if it is related, but has chiari been ruled out?...soes he have a syrinx?...how long since his last MRI?

The following is copied and pasted from wikipedia:

Spina bifida occulta

X-ray image of Spina bifida occulta in S-1Occulta is Latin for "hidden." This is one of the mildest forms of spina bifida although the degree of disability can vary depending upon the location of the lesion.[1]

In occulta there is no opening of the back, but the outer part of some of the vertebrae are not completely closed.[3] The split in the vertebrae is so small that the spinal cord does not protrude. The skin at the site of the lesion may be normal, or it may have some hair growing from it; there may be a dimple in the skin, a lipoma, a dermal sinus or a birthmark.[1]

Many people with the mildest form of this type of spina bifida do not even know they have it, or symptoms do not appear until later in life.[1] People with spina bifida occulta may suffer from a tethered cord from diastematomyelia or the lipoma in lipomyelomeningocele, when the spinal cord gets trapped below the affected level of the growing spine. This may cause neurological problems of the legs and bladder.[1]

A systematic review of radiographic research studies found no relationship between spina bifida occulta and back pain.[4] More recent studies not included in the review support the negative findings.[5][6][7]

However, other studies suggest spina bifida occulta is not always harmless. One study found that among patients with back pain, severity is worse if spina bifida occulta is present.[8][9]


Godspeed
"selma"