Spina bifida

Fernando Heredia MD, Víctor Quiroz MD., Carlos Henríquez MD.

Departamento de Exploración Fetal, Servicio de Obstetricia y Ginecología, Hospital Regional de Concepción, Chile.
Departamento de Obstetricia y Ginecología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Concepción, Chile.

This is the case of a 43 year old, G₃P₂, with unremarkable prior history. She was referred to our center at 36 weeks, after a Level I ultrasound examination suggested hydrocephalus. We confirmed this finding.

Hydrocephalus. We were not able to see the cerebellum, so we thought this could be an Arnold-Chiari type 2 malformation due to a spina bifida, so we looked at the spine and this in what we found:

Sagittal views of the spine, which shows a huge cystic midline mass, located in the lower thoracic and upper lumbar region.

Transverse views of the defect.

Cerebral ultrasound performed 2 days after delivery, which show the descended cerebellum and the empty posterior fossa.

This is the image of the newborn.