Diagnosing tethered cord

[Guest guest]

As you all know, there is a lot of buzz going on about tethered cord

and how it is diagnosed. This is my experience with tethered cord

syndrome.

My son, as I mentioned before was diagnosed with syringomyelia at our

local hospital. My daughter had an MRI that was read totally negative

by the radiologist, however the licensed technician ( whom I know as

a co worker), felt strongly that he saw a tethered cord. This was one

reason why I sent her MRI films to TCI as well as my son's. They also

have had symptoms of tethered cord growing up. The symptoms I have

noticed got worse when there was a growth spurt.

After going to TCI, it was confirmed that both of my chilren have

chiari and tethered cord. They diagnosed tethered cord using a method

that I knew was only used by them. Using my knowledge as a nurse,

this made perfect sense to me. If you think about what tethered cord

is doing, there is a downward pull on the spinal cord, which is

attached to the brain stem. This will cause the brain stem to be

elongated.

This theory was proven with my son's tethered cord surgery. When they

opened him up, the dura was observed to be worn so thin from the

rubbing of the tight filum that they had to use tissue to patch it.

The nerve roots were motionless, and the CSF flow was almost

nothing.The filum had been stretched so tight that it was thinner

than the surtures used to sew him up with. When they snipped the

filum, it sprang up 2 inches, restoring CSF flow at the base of the

spine.

The same thing happened to my niece with her tethered cord surgery.

She has experienced huge improvments with many symptoms.

I am excited to see the results of my son's tethered cord surgery in

3 months time.

I am also looking forward to the day that other fine neurosurgeons

see the truth so that others can have a chance to live better lives.

-NY