tethered spinal cord???

emmyloustu

DD has a sacral dimple with a hemangioma and she is being evaluated for a possible tethered spinal cord. Her ultrasounds were inconclusive and the next step is a consult with a neurosurgeon and an MRI under sedation. Just wondering if anyone has any info or exp? Thanks!

IDFarmer'sWife

I don't have any info or experience on the tethered spinal cord, but I am sending thoughts and prayers your way.

I do, however, have experience with DS having a MRI under sedation.  He had one done at 6 months to look at his spinal cord to make sure it wasn't severed from his scoliosis.  It wasn't, thankfully!  But he did great with the sedation, it was stressful for me, but he woke up groggy and confused but really wasn't very fussy.  All the nurses and anesthesiologist said he did great, better than most babies.   He was a little groggy for the rest of the day but the hardest part was not being able to feed him before it. 

Good luck!  

Assembly_Reqd

We paid for an ultrsound too before finding out they are NOT the best way to rule out tethered chord. DS has a wonky butt crack and other issues along his midline so the neurologist wanted to be sure there weren't any cord issues as well. His cord is fine.

Nate had a sedated MRI and was a champ in recovery. They gave him a bit of gas to let him fall asleep before they inserted the IV fluids and drugs. The whole procedure took about 45 minutes and he was in recovery for about an hour.

Make sure you will have a Pediatric Anethesisiologist. Good Luck

emmyloustu

IDFarmer'sWife:

I don't have any info or experience on the tethered spinal cord, but I am sending thoughts and prayers your way.

I do, however, have experience with DS having a MRI under sedation.  He had one done at 6 months to look at his spinal cord to make sure it wasn't severed from his scoliosis.  It wasn't, thankfully!  But he did great with the sedation, it was stressful for me, but he woke up groggy and confused but really wasn't very fussy.  All the nurses and anesthesiologist said he did great, better than most babies.   He was a little groggy for the rest of the day but the hardest part was not being able to feed him before it. 

Good luck!  

Thank you so much for the T&Ps and the info! So glad your DS did great and had good news! 

emmyloustu

Assembly_Reqd:

We paid for an ultrsound too before finding out they are NOT the best way to rule out tethered chord. DS has a wonky butt crack and other issues along his midline so the neurologist wanted to be sure there weren't any cord issues as well. His cord is fine.

Nate had a sedated MRI and was a champ in recovery. They gave him a bit of gas to let him fall asleep before they inserted the IV fluids and drugs. The whole procedure took about 45 minutes and he was in recovery for about an hour.

Make sure you will have a Pediatric Anethesisiologist. Good Luck

First, your siggy is ADORABLE!!! 2nd - so glad your DSs cord is normal!

E had a u/s at birth b/c of the dimple and the report was normal. Then, she developed the hemangioma starting at the dimple so my pedi wanted another look. Of course, she screamed and flipped out the entire time and then the radiologist tells us that she is past the ideal window for seeing the corn via u/s. BUT, he does feel her results were abnormal, though he can't tell us for sure if they are truly abnormal or only appear that way because she is older. It is a mess! More ?s than answers!

Thank you for sharing! We will be going to a Children's hospital, so we should be all set. 

NCnewmom

just to offer a little more info on the technical aspects -

ultrasound is done before MRI for a number of reasons - quick, much cheaper, no need for sedation, can get "live" images, etc.  On a little baby, it's a great way to eval for cord abnormalities b/c the back of the spine isn't fully developed and there is a "window" so to speak to see the cord itself.  Once the bones are more developed, you lose the ability to see the cord as well.

MRI gives you more detail abt the cord, bones, soft tissue, etc than you can see w/ ultrasound and is the next step.  Ultrasound almost always precedes the MRI though when looking at a little one's cord, for the reasons above.  As the prior posters have mentioned, the hardest part for most parents/kiddos w/ MRI is not being able to feed LO before the sedation.  Many places will let you stay w/ your baby, even while they are in the scanner (assuming you don't have a pacemaker or other nonMRI-compatible metal parts in you).

 Good luck - i hope the MRI/sedation experience goes well and that everything is fine with your LO.