Thoracic myelopathy caused by cervicothoracic diastematomyelia. A

Diastematomyelia is an uncommon dysraphic condition in which the spinal cord is split, with or without a fibrous, cartilaginous, or bone septum. It occurs most often in the thoracolumbar region, and it presents clinical features such as deformity of the foot, peculiar posture, or gait disturbanc&#{176}’7. Cervical diastematomyelia is encountered less often. The symptoms and signs of diastematomyelia usually are recognized in children. We are reporting the case of an adult patient who had an extremely rare cervicothoracic diastematomyelia presenting as a thoracic myelopathy. The diagnosis could not be made using ordinary roentgenograms, but only by using metrizamide-enhanced computerized tomographic myelography and magnetic resonance imaging.