Disorders of the Spinal Cord in Children

Spinal cord disorders have tended to be approached as adjuncts to disorders of the paediatric brain or peripheral nervous system. This is partly a function of numbers –  specifically spinal pathologies being less frequent than those of the brain and the peripheral neuromuscular system, partly a function of the relatively limited investigation techniques available before the advent of MRI and, at least to some degree, it is because the clinical evaluation of the spinal cord in young children is difficult and may be overshadowed by the manifestations of accompanying brain and peripheral neuromuscular symptomatology.

This is the first book to cover the range of paediatric spinal cord disease, its clinical assessment, appropriate investigation, its medical and neurosurgical management and neuro-rehabilitation.

It is likely that the role of the cord, in conditions ranging from neonatal neurological injury to shaken impact syndrome and in inflammatory and neurometabolic disorders and beyond, will continue to become more evident over coming years.

• First comprehensive coverage of pediatric spinal medical and neurosurgical disorders, their investigations and management brings the whole topic into focus
• Definitives chapters on neuro-imaging and neurophysiology

Readership

Paediatric neurologists, paediatric neurosurgeons, paediatric oncologists, paediatric neuroradiologists and neurophysiologists,  rehabilitation physicians and therapists.

Clinics in Developmental Medicine Series

AUTHORS’ APPOINTMENTS ix

FOREWORD xii

Peter Rosenbaum

PREFACE xiv

Michael Pike

1. THE NEUROLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF CHILDREN WITH

SPINAL CORD DISORDERS 1

Saleel R Chandratre and Sandeep Jayawant

2. IMAGING THE CORD 21

Gerardine Quaghebeur

3. CLINICAL NEUROPHYSIOLOGY OF THE SPINAL CORD 51

Ravi Knight

4. SPINAL CORD MALFORMATIONS 73

Michel Zerah and Abhaya V Kulkarni

5. SPINAL CORD ABSCESS, HAEMORRHAGE, AND TRAUMA 102

Reza Yassari and John Houten

6. TUMOURS OF THE SPINE IN CHILDREN 120

David A Chesler, Joseph Noggle, Gary Nicolin, John-Paul Kilday,

and George I Jallo

7. INFLAMMATORY, METABOLIC, VASCULAR, AND DEMYELINATING

DISORDERS 152

Michael Absoud, Ming J Lim, and Evangeline Wassmer

8. SPECIFIC ISSUES IN MANAGEMENT AND REHABILITATION 186

Lawrence Vogel and Allison Graham

9. PROSPECTS FOR SPINAL CORD REPAIR 225

Elizabeth Muir and Roger Keynes

COLOUR PLATE SECTION

INDEX 241