Caudal duplication syndrome
R. Dominguez, J. Rott, M. Castillo, R. R. Pittaluga and J. N. Corriere Jr
Department of Pediatric Radiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas.
OBJECTIVE--To present the clinical and roentgenographic features of caudal
duplication syndrome. DESIGN--Retrospective review of the medical records
and all available imaging studies. SETTING--Two university-affiliated
teaching hospitals. PARTICIPANTS--Six children with multiple anomalies and
duplications of distal organs derived from the hindgut, neural tube, and
adjacent mesoderm. INTERVENTIONS--None. RESULTS--Spinal anomalies
(myelomeningocele in two patients, sacral duplication in three, diplomyelia
in two, and hemivertebrae in one) were present in all our patients.
Duplications or anomalies of the external genitalia and/or the lower
urinary and reproductive structures were also seen in all our patients.
Ventral herniation (in one patient), intestinal obstructions (in one
patient), and bowel duplications (in two patients) were the most common
gastrointestinal abnormalities. CONCLUSIONS--We believe that the above
constellation of abnormalities resulted from an insult to the caudal cell
mass and hindgut at approximately the 23rd through the 25th day of
gestation. We propose the term caudal duplication syndrome to describe the
association between gastrointestinal, genitourinary, and distal neural tube
malformations.
