Tethered spinal cord in association with diastematomyelia.

There is no good evidence that division of the filum terminale with simultaneous removal of the central spur in patients with diastematomyelia improves their eventual neurological status. We describe 5 patients in whom the filum was not divided and who were later reported upon because of lack of improvement or because of increasing neurological deficit. In 3 patients the division of a congenitally short filum terminale resulted in no improvement; in the other 2, symptoms were relieved following the division of adhesions at the site of previous surgery.