Forty-five children (25 girls; 20 boys) with meningomyleocoele (MMC) were assessed for growth, skeletal maturation and pubertal development. The spinal defects were operated on shortly after birth and all children required cerebral drainage for hydrocephalus.
Standard deviation scores for height, sitting height, subischial leg length, head circumference, weight and bone age were compared with aged-matched data from a normal Swiss population. The children with MMC were shorter (height SDS boys -2.34 + 1.57; girls -2.01+ 1.57, mean + SD, P< 0.0005), secondary to a decrease in trunk and lower limb length: Arm length was normal. The head circumference was increased, significantly in the girls (SDS + 1.49 + 1.21, P<0.005). Weight was decreased in both sexes, this being significant in the boys (SDS -1.11 + 1.23, P<0.005); however, comparison of weight with height suggested that children with MMC were relatively obese. Bone age was significantly advanced in both boys (SDS + 1.07 โข 2.13, P< 0.025) and girls (SDS + 1.36 โข 1.77, P<0.0001). Secondary sex characteristics appeared early in both boys and girls and one girl and one boy presented with puberty advanced by several years. Cryptorchidism occurred in 25% of boys with MMC.