Details
Termination of pregnancy at 21 weeks’ gestation due to multiple congenital abnormalities on routine screening. A section from the lumbar spinal column is shown.
Myelomeningocele is a defect of neural tube closure in which meningeal and spinal cord tissue herniate through a vertebral defect. Most commonly, they occur in the lumbosacral area and are usually associated with Chiari II malformations. Myelomeningocele appears as (1) a cystic mass covered by a delicate membrane or skin with the spinal cord floating inside (this case), or (2) a flat open lesion with a mass of vascular connective tissue and disorganized neural tissue that become epithelialized after birth; in these cases, the spinal cord is open posteriorly and the central canal opens directly onto the skin.