MRI is the imaging modality of choice for diagnosing diastematomyelia, a rare spinal cord malformation characterized by a split spinal cord.
Adult diastematomyelia may cause isolated lower-limb weakness; leaves open natural history and management questions in older adults.
A rare spinal cord malformation, characterised by an extensive sagittal separation of the vertebral canal and its contents, giving a split spinal cord appearance. Two types of diastematomyelia have been described. We report the case of a female patient, 62-year-old, who presented with decreased muscle strength in the lower limbs without associated sphincter disorders. The patient underwent T1- and T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the spine in axial, sagittal and coronal sections. The MRI showed a bifid appearance of the thoracolumbar spinal cord in two hemi-cords with a bone spur separating the two hemi-cords, compatible with type 2 of diastematomyelia. Diastematomyelia is a rare spinal anomaly that may be associated with other malformations. The treatment strategy depends essentially on the progression of clinical (neurological) signs and associated malformations.
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Hafoud et al. (2025) studied this question.
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