Spina bifida with higher position of sacral hiatus: a case report with clinical implications.

Spina bifida is a developmental defect in the vertebral column, in which the laminae fail to fuse and thereby the spinal cord is relatively unprotected. We report a case of spina bifida, in a dried specimen of sacrum, characterized by a prominent S1 spine and a higher sacral hiatus. Conventional textbooks of anatomy provide less information about the clinical implications of such anomalies and research studies are the only source of information. The present study, discusses in detail, the structural and radiological aspects of spina bifida, with a higher sacral hiatus. Precise knowledge of normal and abnormal anatomy of the sacrum may be clinically important for anesthetists, neurologists, radiologists and orthopedic surgeons, in their clinical practice (Fig. 3, Ref. 16). Full Text (Free, PDF) www.bmj.sk