2024 Volume 33 Issue 4 Pages 283-288
Although tethered cord syndrome is occasionally associated with Chiari malformation type1, their causative relationship and the order of symptom onset remain to be elucidated. We report the case of an adolescent patient who developed both Chiari malformation type1 and tethered cord syndrome symptoms sequentially. A 12-year-old girl, who underwent foramen magnum decompression for symptomatic Chiari malformation type1 one year before, suffered lumbago, pain of lower extremities, and urinary dysfunction. Her pain was provoked by flexion. As the symptomatology and magnetic resonance imaging findings suggested tethered cord syndrome, sectioning of the tight filum terminale was performed, which resulted in complete resolution of the symptoms. Her body length increased by 6.1cm during the period between foramen magnum decompression and sectioning of the filum terminale. We assumed that the interaction of her crowded posterior fossa, tight filum terminale, and growth of the spinal column during adolescence contributed to the sequential symptom onset of Chiari malformation type1 and tethered cord syndrome.
