Growth and sexual development in children with meningomyleocoele

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Abstract
Forty-five children (25 girls; 20 boys) with meningomylcocoele (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, PPPPP<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.